Child abuse spike prompts calls for greater effort at prosecution

A massive increase in child abuse cases reported last year has prompted calls for the doubling of efforts to prosecute persons who victimise children.

According to the 2022 Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica (ESSJ) released by the Planning Institute of Jamaica, 15,068 reports of child abuse were made to the National Children’s Registry last year.

Of this, there were 3,409 reported incidents of sexual abuse, an increase of 46 per cent compared to 2021. Physical abuse cases increased by 41 per cent over last year with 3,937 incidents reported. Behavioural problems were responsible for 6,263 reports, an increase of 58 per cent relative to 2021. And child neglect accounted for 6,647 reports; an increase of 33 per cent over the previous year.

“It is a crisis, and I think every well-thinking Jamaican should be alarmed by these figures and should be strategising how we go about addressing it,” declared Warren Thompson, director of children and family programmes at the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA).

Data from the Statistical and Information Management Unit at the Jamaica Constabulary Force revealed that 677 persons were arrested for child-related offences last year.

This included 272 people for sexual intercourse with someone under the age of 16. Another 142 people were arrested for sexual touching and interference with a child, and 107 people were arrested for rape.

Meanwhile, 38 people were arrested for unlawful wounding, and 20 people were arrested for cruelty to a child.

Children’s Advocate and the National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, Diahann Gordon Harrison, told The Gleaner that “effective prosecutions where perpetrators can be identified and apprehended so that justice is done” is an integral part of showing support to children who are victims, while at the same time providing comprehensive psychosocial intervention.

INCREASED CONSCIOUSNESS

In 2018, ten thousand seven hundred and twenty-two cases of child abuse were reported. This figure increased to 13,806 in 2019, a 28 per cent increase. However, 2020 saw a decline in the number of cases, with 10,028 reports made.

She said the uptick in the number of cases being reported could be as a result of an increased consciousness propelling people’s desire to protect children and a growing awareness of how to make reports.

She said the COVID-19 pandemic also affected how child abuse was reported.

“It is my view that as time moves on beyond the period in which persons were extremely focused on the pandemic and normality has returned to regular school and activities, the numbers have seen an uptick. During the Covid-19 era, children were largely outside the observation of guidance counsellors and other stakeholders who could spot red flags and make reports,” she said.

In September 2021, the CPFSA launched the 211, an emergency hotline that is available seven days per week, across all networks and at the Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons safe-space, making it easier for children to self- report.

Thompson said the initiative also included a robust public education campaign encouraging people to make reports of child abuse.

“There was work on social media, but we also used traditional media. We used a number of billboards across the country promoting reporting using 211. One of the things that we also did, especially during COVID, we were promoting our WhatsApp line,” he said.

He added that the CPFSA is also in talks with the network provider to develop 211 into a text line as well in order to increase the ways people can report child abuse.

Emphasising that in most cases, children are being victimised by a trusted adult, Thompson called for citizens to be more protective of the nation’s juveniles.

“All of us should be concerned about children. We live in a culture where we tend to focus on our children only,” he said. “What we would want is even if the village will not participate in raising the child, the village will participate in protecting the child.”

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com