Revealing Jamaica's soul - further injustice to children

This is the second in a series of articles contributed by Jamaicans for Justice specially timed for May, Child Month.

For a while, Jodiseemed absolutely determined to leave. After being placed in state care and passed around a stream of strangers' homes in Kingston, she ran back to her own family, despite the fact that her biological father beat her with water hoses, boards, and tools. It did not take long for him to return her to state care, and she was handed over to a place of safety. She was also unhappy there, and continued to act out.

Eventually she was committed to Armadale - she made one final attempt to escape from the conditions there, but was once again caught. Finally, she was transferred to the Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre when she was 14. There, she learned to avoid trouble.

At Fort Augusta, misbehaviour led to whole-body beatings with batons and wooden boards. Punishment cells for the unruly were covered in excrement and infested with rats and insects; after riots, multiple girls would be placed in each. She was wary of adult inmates; she learned how unwanted her presence was after one attempted to set her on fire by dousing her with kerosene and throwing burning tissue at her.

At the time of her interview with a United Nations investigator, she had been at Fort Augusta for a total of three years and six months.

It is a sobering thought that in today's Jamaica, an abused 14-year-old can anticipate three years of displacement, neglect and trauma. Jodi's account illustrates the serious deficiencies in a childcare system less geared towards fixing stories like these than towards burying them under paperwork.

The number of children incarcerated is creeping to its highest rate since 2009, and the wards currently housed continue to suffer, psychologically and physically. Publicly, Jamaicans hear stories of broomsticks being shoved down the throats of young girls, while privately, officials process reams of reports detailing even more disturbing trends.

Sixty-eight per cent of children brought before courts are given no legal representation. Even before this, though, it is mandated that they wait no more than 48 hours before their first court appearance; some have waited up to a full year. Staffing shortages mean that very few are properly assessed, and they are often placed in centres that do little to nothing to support their specific needs.

equally grim situation

Once they are remanded, the situation seems equally grim: official documents reflect no fewer than 14 state ward suicide attempts between 2011 and 2012. A psychiatrist from the Department of Correctional Services has gone on record to condemn the current set-up as one that is actively "criminalising and damaging" Jamaican children.

This is only exacerbated by the wholly inappropriate recent activity by government officials. To address the influx of incarcerated children, they have announced a $100-million-plus project to retrofit South Camp, yet another correctional facility. Not only are there already multiple locations not yet at capacity, but this new institution would also be intentionally structured as a type of second Fort Augusta - another prison designed to house both young girls and adult women convicted of crimes.

There has been no mention of reviewing existing cases or providing support at earlier stages. Rather than restructuring a system that is incarcerating and abusing increasing numbers of children, they have opted to spend millions of dollars on further enabling it.

These stories and facts speak to abject systemic failure, and a pattern of pervasive and continuous mismanagement. As any parent will attest, a single child is a massive commitment, and as the legally responsible parent for what has now become over 6,000 wards, Jamaica needs to be prepared to follow through on its own significant duties with equally significant commitment.

Recently, the Ministry of Youth and Culture has attempted to quell growing concern about the current treatment of children in its care, not by addressing the legitimate issues raised, but by commissioning yet another audit of its facilities to "inform further action".

But the answer to damaging bureaucratic inefficiency is not to introduce further bureaucratic inefficiency. As figureheads and committees continue to stall and dissemble, the childcare dilemma in Jamaica is approaching a crisis point. What is required now is to finally take an honest and critical look at how children like Jodi could be so grossly overlooked for so long.

The details of this case were taken from the 2010 Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture in Jamaica. Names have been changed to preserve anonymity. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and admin@jamaicansforjustice.org.