Over the last ten years, the number of children in institutional care in Guyana has increased by almost 50%, with girls between the ages of 13 and 15, many of whom have been victims of sexual abuse, representing the largest single age group.
This is according to a study commissioned by local non-governmental organisation ChildLink and conducted by Donelle Bess-Bascom into ‘the Nature and Extent of Institutionalization of Children in Guyana.’
The study, the results of which were shared with the public yesterday at Moray House Trust, sought to examine four key areas: the legalities of removing and placing children in institutions; an assessment of standards of care in institutions and the extent of the implementation of the government’s Minimum Standards for Institutions; a determination of factors that lead to short and long-term institutional care of children in Guyana; and a determination of the factors and challenges of the re-integration process – the role of visiting parents.
Among the findings was that as of April, 2016, 829 children were in the care of state-run or privately-operated homes and orphanages, with children between the ages of 10 and 15 accounting for 63% of those in care. “The number of placements for children in this age group peaked for both sexes, with girls between the ages of 13 [and] 15 recording the highest number of placements…16% of all children in residential care and 30% of the girls placed in care,” the report states, while concluding that this category of children (ages 10 to 15) is in crisis.
Targets
According to the report, girls aged 13 to 15 are in deeper crisis, especially because caregivers are saying their admissions are based on sexual abuse.
Therefore, it concludes that in Guyana “girls at the onset of puberty or during this period of physiological development are targets for perpetrators of sexual abuse within the family/home setting.” These children also fall within the age range between 13 and 18, when girls are targeted for human trafficking.
The study also concludes that the length of time many children remain in care is detrimental to their long-term development.
On average, it was found that children remained in care for four years, with some remaining as long as 10 years or more.
One 13-year-old boy, who has been institutionalized for 10 years, reportedly told the investigators that he worried about spending the rest of his life without knowing his family.
Special note was made of the fact that some children “remained in care for 4 years or more, because, particularly in cases of physical and sexual abuse, the perpetrators still remained in the family residence, or at large.”
Delays in justice system
In such cases, key informants opined that delays in the justice system, which resulted in children remaining separated from their biological families for exceptionally long periods of time, suggested that the child is being punished for the perpetrators’ crimes.
“A measure of inaction on the part of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in following through to apprehend perpetrators, parents (particularly mothers) who ‘cover’ for and hide perpetrators, and a general culture of silence with regard to child abuse were among the reasons why cases remained incomplete for years at a time,” the report states.
One 15-year-old is recorded as having told the researcher that she was in care because her uncle had raped her.
“My uncle rape me when I was 10… He does pass by when he see me and wind down he car window and smile… Nothing never come out of the case. They just put me in here,” she is quoted as saying.
Another girl, who is 19 and who is currently living with her six-year-old daughter in a residential care facility, spoke wistfully of the day she will be able to return to the village she grew up in and be reunited with her family.
She is recorded as having told researchers that she is unable to return home to her village because the relative who raped and impregnated her at age 12 still lives in the home. Her daughter was born while she was in residential care and does not know any other relative.
”I just want to see my family… The court case still going on… I want my daughter to know her grandparents and aunts and cousins and her culture… Our culture is very different from what she sees in here in this home… I don’t want my child to grow up all her life in a children home. I want her to have a normal life… I meself want a normal life,” she said.
