Dealing with the issue of child abuse in SVG

10.MAY.11

EDITOR: Please permit me space in your paper to address the issue of ‘Child Abuse Prevention’ in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.((more)) I felt the need to write this letter, as we once again have come to the end of April, the month designated by the United Nations as Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month. Each year, I feel as if we in this country acknowledge this month with activities, because this is what is expected of us, having signed on to the various UN articles. Let us examine in reality how we deal with the issue of child abuse.

Firstly, we established the Family Court, so that children will have a safe place to have their cases heard. In reality, anyone familiar with this Court would realise that these victims of abuse are forced to sit for periods of up to five hours, waiting for their case to be heard, often to have it adjourned for months later and I have seen that cycle continue.

The children are sometimes forced to sit in the same waiting area as their abusers during this period. The children are often not prepared for court and often meet the prosecutor for the first time when they enter the chambers. We see alleged rapists being let out on bail back into very small communities, where these small victims are forced to interact with their abusers. These issues, among others, often arise and there are cases that have already been so exposed to the media that the children’s privacy is invaded. Sometimes, cases are being thrown out because the children are too scared, tired and ill-prepared to give evidence. Secondly, persons who have tried reporting cases to the Family Affairs Division know that often they are given the run-around by workers and often very little is done.

I would like us to start to seriously address the issue of child abuse, not with some talk shows, t-shirts, blue ribbons and poorly attended and advertised rallies and marches. Let’s put systems in place to deal with child abuse. We need to lobby to have our laws changed so that children will have appointed child advocates protecting them legally. We know that sometimes, sadly, we cannot depend on the parents to do this. We need to make our Family Court child-friendly; let’s have an area where children can be that is warm, comforting and away from the general waiting areas and offices. We need to have these cases dealt with first, not after the long list of child maintenance cases and other family disputes. There is a need to set up a separate child protection department, staffed by trained social workers and counsellors, whose task is solely child protection; otherwise our very tired welfare/ social worker/relief payment officers will continue to drop the ball, not necessarily because they do not care, but maybe because their job description is too varied. (Jack-of-all-trades, master of none?) It is time that victims of abuse (sexually or physically) who have to be taken to the hospital have their cases reported in the same way as if an adult turns up a with a gunshot wound; it is reported, whether I want it reported or not.

My dream for next year’s Child Awareness Prevention and Detection Month is that the various agencies will be in a position to move beyond lip-service and instead be using the month to highlight the various programmes and laws that we have in place to reduce child abuse. This can be accompanied by programmes for parents, teachers, children, police officers, etc. The aim of these programmes will be reducing child abuse. Let us all meaningfully work together to reduce child abuse and stop going through the motions because that’s what the UN says we should do.



Concerned