Religious leaders join fight against abuse

Religious Leaders in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are being lobbied to join the fight against the social ill of child abuse.{{more}}

On April 14, officials from the Family Affairs Division in the Ministry of National Mobilization hosted a workshop for Religious Leaders with the aim of getting them to become advocates for the nation’s children.

The workshop was sponsored by UNICEF and was held as part of the Family Affairs Department’s calendar of activities to mark child abuse awareness and prevention month observed in April.

Lisa McClean-Trotman, Communication for Development Specialist at UNICEF, said a recent survey showed that Religious Leaders need to be more involved in addressing the issues of child abuse, hence their involvement in the workshop.

McClean-Trotman said all Caribbean countries have signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). In that CRC, Article 38 states that children are to be protected from all forms of abuse. She said that is the reason why countries are encouraged to get all the stakeholders on board to address the

issues of child abuse, including Religious Leaders.

The local Religious Community was well represented at the one day workshop with representatives from various denominations. (API)