Macedonia Judges hand milder sentences for pedophiles

May 27, 2008

Comment: In January 2008, the government amended its criminal code, adding harsher penalties for those who traffic or attempt to traffic minors and for those who use the services of trafficked victims, to address the full range of trafficking crimes: child pornography, sexual exploitation of minors, in particular underage persons with a mental handicap. The changes were engined by the fact that the number of minors sexually molested and exploited was growing.

The latest two direful cases of sexual abuse of children prompted the two authors of this article to address the problem to judges whose responsibility is to keep law and order and to apply harsher legal provisions. The article accomplished its goal: on one hand, by making an appeal to those who hand sanctions to make them tougher; and on the other hand, by presenting the regulations to raise awareness on the existing law.

The article also collects information from several sources directly involved in fighting this phenomenon: the Minister for Justice, the Director of the First Children’s Embassy in the World, the Center for Social Affairs, a psychiatrist and psychologists. The article not only represents different point of views of professionals but also covers several aspects of the issue: dysfunctions of the legal system, causes of mild sentences, undetected sexual abuse cases, early detection of child abuse as well as the consequences. In the entire article, the focus is on the function of legal provisions, although, the article manage to give a comprehensive picture of the problem. Thus, the article can serve as a positive example for journalists how to elaborate opinions, to analyze facts, and to use statistics to build up successful argument in their article. The article should be taken as guidance for thoroughly researching a case before publishing information on it. It demonstrates how media can act preventively and influence public opinion in a positive way.

(This Press review is under the framework of EIDHR funded project, implemented jointly with Open Gate-La Strada)