Last year, 3,129 children were abused – a number that has shocked Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud.
“I am horrified….We are all well aware of the recent instances where children who were killed, killed in their homes, and by a parent or a person who was in charge of their safety. This is deeply disturbing to me. And I’m sure every one of you is as concerned as I am about the well-being and welfare of our children,” Persaud stated, according to a release yesterday from her ministry.
The report compiled by the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) also disclosed that 41 percent of girls between the ages of 14 and 18 were sexually abused at home.
Many of the victims were violated and abused by persons brought into the homes, especially by their mothers.
Troubled by this revelation, the release said that Persaud made an impassioned plea to these mothers, who may be driven by economic hardship to “be very careful of the persons that you let into your homes.”
“You are exposing your children to the unknown, and you’re placing your children sometimes in harm’s way. Be very conscious of your child’s whereabouts and with whom you leave your child with,” she urged.
She also called on parents to act on complaints made by their children.
“Take it seriously. We owe it to our children, to develop a culture in our homes, where you’re open to listening to what they have to say about their well-being, and more importantly, about their own concerns for their safety,” the Minister said.
The closure of schools due to the COVID 19 pandemic has placed children into close proximity with the perpetrators of abuse and violence, which limits reporting options, she noted.
The report
Between January and December 2020 – the report said that 3,129 children between ages one to 18 were either abused physically, sexually or verbally; neglected, abandoned or witnessed abuse. Of the 3,129 cases, 1,698 were girls.
The figures also showed that 688 girls between the ages of 14 and 18 were sexually abused. Overall, 632 girls were neglected; 258 were physically abused; 104 experienced verbal abuse; 12 witnessed abuse and four were abandoned, the release said.
Neglect was the most common type of abuse among the boys, and out of the 751 cases reported – 674 were neglected between the ages of 0-13. And while 1,431 boys were abused in total – 432 of them were physically abused; 127 abused sexually; 102 verbally abused; 10 abandoned and 4 witnessed some type of abuse.
Forty-two percent of the 2,822 perpetrators who committed these acts were mothers. The records showed that many of them physically abused their children. CPA records also revealed that 596 fathers and 172 grandparents abused children.
Through the CPA, 1,638 of the victims received short to long term counseling; 592 cases were handled by law enforcement officers; 62 cases were placed before the Courts and 92 victims were removed from their parents’/guardians home and placed either in institutional care or with other relatives, the release disclosed.
