I work as a waitress in a members club where people bring their families especially on weekends. However, I have noticed something strange with the chairman of the club that is really troubling me. I have often seen him giving his number to the teenage girls who come with their parents to the club. I think he later calls them and I suspect he may be sexually assaulting them. I cannot tell anyone because I will be fired in a matter of minutes but I want to do something for the sake of those girls. He is very influential at the club and is known as a womanizer even preying on peoples wives. I really want to do something especially for the girls but I don't know what. Please advise... {Wendy}
Your Take:
They say the boss is always right even when he is wrong. He is exposing those girls to enormous risk including that of contracting HIV. You could write an anonymous letter to the management of the club. Either way you have to do something about this otherwise you will live in regret.
{Onyango Outha}
Wendy, I applaud you for wanting to help these girls. You can involve the authorities by giving them tip-offs then they carry on with their investigations. After this you can play it cool and act as if nothing has happened. Ensure those undertaking the investigation do not quote your involvement.
{Ouma Ragumo}
You should alert the patrons immediately you see such a thing happening so that they also get to place a tab on the communications of their children. You could also share this with your supervisor or get the police to take up the matter by investigating and even being on his trail for some time to find out if he actually meets these girls.
{Tasma Charles}
Where there is smoke there is fire. You need to do more research on this to find out if he actually follows the girls out there. It is always a choice for these teens to take the number and whatever they say can only be known if they are willing to share otherwise you can also get one-on-one with them to find out the truth.
{Charles Olanya}
Sexual abuse is against the law and everyone has a right to be protected by the justice system. To help sort out your suspicions you need to confide in someone or some authority to salvage the situation.
Maybe you are afraid of talking to the police and testifying because you don’t know what to expect. A strong case can only be built with evidence not on suspicions. Sometimes this may involve talking to the police or organizations that can help in such instances as they are trained to handle such issues with the highest degree of confidentiality.
{Andrew Diddy Chaplain}
Counselor’s Take:
Private members club operate by a different set of rules determined by the members. However, these rules are applied selectively depending on the culprit at hand. To add salt to the injury, committee members have the ultimate say when it comes to any issue and needless to say the “The chairman’s” word is often law.
Understanding the context that you are in, I encourage you to tread carefully as this could be the difference between you having a job and being out in the hot sun. You have done a remarkable thing in attempting to speak out for those girls but observe extreme caution as you go about this otherwise you may find yourself without a job and leave the girls suffering in your absence.
By now you know the perception of members with regard to the people who work in their clubs. This therefore means that you may not be the right person to blow the whistle on this issue. As a matter of fact there are even members of the club who should not even dare speak out on such an issue and more so against the chairman.
Clubs again have their politics about senior members, junior members, popular members, and new member’s e.t.c. and as such issues are often looked at in view of who is presenting them. You will need to get some allies from within the club to take a lead on this issue with your help.
I encourage you to talk to a senior female member who is close to you and who you can trust with your life. This is because a woman is more likely to take an interest in such a matter as opposed to a man. Initially, you may need to share your fears as suspicions and if they are interested then they may involve you in gathering evidence against the man.
The member on the other hand ought to get other trusted members to work with her on this otherwise they may be heavily victimized and without adequate support may even be expelled from the club.
All this ought to be done in a highly discrete process since the involvement of more people in the investigation may jeopardize the entire operation. This is an operation that should not end prematurely at all costs. If you decide to pursue it, then you pursue it to its logical end which may be to either confirm your suspicions or to clear his name.
Lastly, having noticed this peculiar trend, the responsibility of saving those girls effectively lies with you. Innocent teenage girls may be going through difficult times at the club and you never know how deep this has gone.
Maybe it is not just with the chairman but also with other members. Generally, there is a trend where young girls as young as primary school children are increasingly being lured by older men using money and other items in exchange for sexual favors.
Unfortunately they are falling for this and getting sexually molested and abused in the process and we all have a responsibility to protect their innocent souls from such perverts.{Taurus}