POPULAR STAR counsellor and pastor, Aaron Dumas, came under fire last week for advice he gave to a young woman who wrote to him for help in deciding whether to tell her sister that the man she was about to marry had raped her four years ago. Pastor Dumas had offered that the timing of the revelation was not helpful. “If you were to tell your sister now about what her boyfriend did, it would be a big uproar in the family and she may want to know why you have waited so long to tell her. I doubt very much that he would admit that he raped you.,’ Dumas said. “You have kept this thing to yourself for the past four years and now that they are getting married, you are prepared to let your sister know what happened; and so, why now? If you had informed any family member or even your mother that he raped you, you would have been in a much stronger position today. But to say that now may give folks the impression that you are making mischief.” May I further suggest that you attend the wedding? Your sister wants you to be a part of the bridal party, do so for the sake of your sister.” But his response sparked a huge backlash on social media, with some persons condemning Dumas for seemingly silencing a victim of rape. One letter writer, Agostinho Pinnock , said: “As far as the eminent Pastor Dumas is concerned, the timing is off. In his view, it is not expedient, at this time, to make such a fortuitous announcement. After all, the young woman was clearly wrong for not making a report earlier that she was raped by a man she was supposed to have trusted and who, in the context of both her age, at the time (15 years old), and his relationship to her sister (the father of her sister’s child, the victim’s niece), occupied a position of trust.” “In a society with high levels of crime and, likely, even higher levels of trauma caused by it, Jamaica definitely cannot afford to tell its young people, or anyone else for that matter, that the only time a crime can and ought to be reported is when there is a hundred per cent certainty that people will not be made uncomfortable by said revelations and, definitely, only after living with its torment for several years.” One Gleaner columnist, Glenn Tucker, educator and sociologist, suggested in Dumas’ defence, that the young lady would likely be a further disadvantage. “If we leave out the other actors in this drama, where would this place the accuser?” “The condemnation of Rev Dumas’ recommendation is really emotional, not clearly thought-out, and lacking the kind of assessment that comes from a trained mind, which I think Dumas has,” Tucker says. Dumas has since offered an apology. “As a follow-up to a recent letter concerning the alleged rape of a young lady, I take this time to clarify what has been interpreted as an insensitive response from me. As a family counsellor, I think long and hard about the guidance I choose to offer. It is challenging to hold a balance all the time; it is not always easy, and we are all human. I apologise as my response came across as one-sided, but I want the nation and the world to know that I stand firm in encouraging what is right. I firmly encourage young men and women who are raped or otherwise abused to report such incidents to the authorities without exception, and this includes whether or not they think they will be believed.