Editor,

I wish to express my outrage at the availability of pornographic DVD’s sold openly by street vendors.  I have come across these DVDs in both Kisementi and Meridien shopping centers in the company of my three children.  My son saw the DVD before I could quickly react and I had to answer some tough questions!  

The vendors cleverly put them at the bottom of the DVD pile that they are selling with, of all things, child cartoons and popular TV and family series on top, so ‘inadvertently’ you come across the DVD’s.

The questions I beg to ask are: "Why are pornographic DVDs being brought in the country?  Where are the monitoring agencies?  Why are sellers allowed to openly sell them? 

Doesn’t some agency monitor these activities?
I humbly request that you please highlight this issue through your esteemed newspaper in order that the necessary authorities make this happen.

I shudder at the thought of my teenage and preteen children, walking up to the vendors and buying a DVD for peanuts.   I shudder at the thought that the DVD’s are easily accessible to our house helps who can easily pop this DVD into the player when we are at work, and show our vulnerable young children these images.

I shudder at the deep repercussions such a seemingly small activity can have on our children, youth and, yes, adults’ alike.

Thank you for highlighting this issue.  I also sincerely hope that highlighting this in the papers, will not create awareness that these DVD’s are available and therefore drive up demand... sincerely this would be even more tragic.  But keeping quiet doesn’t help either.

Kind Regards,
An outraged Rwandan Mother