Those who haven’t read the story headlined ‘Sex abuse’s culture of silence’ in yesterday’s Sunday Observer should do so.

The article reminds us not just of the widespread sexual abuse of minors — sometimes with the consent of impoverished elders who see it as a way to put food on the table — but of the deadly hold of criminals, often referred to as dons, on entire inner-city communities.

Fear of the don will cause parents to turn a blind eye to the abuse of their daughters or — if they feel they can get away with it — protective parents may send their little girls away to trusted relatives or friends far away, preferably in rural Jamaica.

Gender activist Ms Judith Wedderburn cautions against condemning those who turn a blind eye. She does so because, “Sometimes if you don’t live it, you don’t understand it. It is very difficult… if you don’t have the option to just move [from the community].”

Children’s Advocate Mrs Diahann Gordon Harrison says expecting people in inner-city communities to just speak out against criminal dons while the status quo remains is unrealistic.

“The social circumstances which serve to empower dons and those who support them have to be addressed in a holistic way so that mothers have definitive alternatives that they feel empowered and safe to explore,” she says.

Psychologist Dr Leachim Semaj underlines the extent of the problem: “An area leader, the most powerful person in the community, controls everything — including the lives of people. A lot of people who live in these communities feel powerless against it because — whether real or imagined — the State has no legitimacy in these communities. The State does not assert itself in these communities.”

This newspaper believes the Jamaican State dropped the ball badly in 2010 when it failed to carry through the war against criminals, gangs, and dons after dismantling the network of Mr Christopher “Dudus” Coke in West Kingston.

Sadly, West Kingston today appears to be no better off. Some would say it is worse off.

We recall that when the security forces uprooted Mr Coke, a major concern for West Kingston residents was that lawlessness and even greater poverty would result. For many, Mr Coke was protector, benefactor, and the stabilising power.

The Government pledged at the time that the vacuum created by Mr Coke’s removal would be adequately filled. To the eternal shame of Jamaicans and their leaders, that pledge fell flat.

We contend that, while absolutely necessary, anti-gang legislation and the like, as well as the various anti-crime enforcement measures, won’t, by themselves, bring the dons and their gangs to heel.

Obviously, the State must proactively intervene in improving security, health care, education, etc, in our poorest communities, even as it targets criminals.

But also, as this newspaper has said repeatedly, an important element in the fight against criminals and, indeed, in the uplifting of people in our most impoverished areas, must be basic community mobilisation — helping people to help themselves — involving an alliance of the State with all legitimate, interested parties.

People in stronger, united, confident, well-led, self-sustaining communities may find fewer reasons to view their elected politicians as next to God. But they will be better off for it.