Statistically, every hour two children are subjected to some form of abuse in Guyana, the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) has found.
The entity, which falls under the Ministry of Social Protection, posted the jarring statistic as part of its 2018 Year in Review Facebook thread.
In one of several posts made between December 21 and January 3, the CPA reported that last year, the number of child abuse reports increased by 25.4% from 2017, with the agency having responded to 4,352 child abuse cases by the end of October, “the highest number of reported cases ever for the period”.
By the end of November, the agency had responded to 1,268 calls made to its hotline.
The increase, the review noted, has been attributed to the success of the agency’s Multimedia Awareness Child Abuse Campaign.
“The National Multimedia Awareness Child Abuse Campaign was intensified in 2018 with new communication methods and channels for reporting. Persons can now report through the social media and our DJ Akelo was a big success in raising awareness with his programmes on 94.1 and 100.1 and on Linden Television. Moreover, we have our ads on almost all of the TV stations across the Regions. We have also launched Child Sexual Abuse Awareness ads in 2 Amerindian Languages to air on the radio stations that cover the Hinterland Regions,” the CPA reported.
Apart from the multimedia campaign, the agency related that work was done to build partnerships with key stakeholders, include police, teachers, public health workers, NGOs and community groups, in order to offer social network support for vulnerable families.
“Child Protection work is not done in isolation, and Communities must take responsibility for keeping children safe. Community-based initiatives and parenting programmes are known to be effective in strengthening the functioning of parents and enhancing the growth and development of children,” the CPA noted.
“CPA formally met with the Religious Groups in February to establish partnership since the Religious Community has more access to the family and the leaders can serve as an important channel of communication for social change and transformation. As a result, a number has registered to be part of our Prevent Child Abuse Action Groups at the Community level providing after school support and empowerment for children and assisting with education and training for parents,” it added.
In September, during a presentation at the University of Guyana’s 14th Turkeyen and Tain Talks, Social worker Nicole Cole, revealed that statistics show that for the first six months of 2018, 393 girls and 88 boys, a total of 481 cases, were victims of abuse, while there were 238 reported cases of child sexual abuse for the same period. She described these as staggering statistics.
In a letter published on November 19 by this newspaper, ChildLinK Inc. Communications Officer, Shaquita Thomas, had reported that there were 841 total reported cases of child sexual abuse in 2017, a 25% increase in reported cases over a five year period (there had been 670 reported cases in 2013).
Stabroek News also previously reported that in May last year, a Child Advocacy Centre was opened in Linden. This followed on the CPA 2017 report, which showed that Linden holds the record for the highest number of reported child sexual abuse cases in the country, a Department of Public Information report had said.
