Reports of sexual abuse of children have increased significantly over the last year, according to the head of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA), Ann Greene, who says more has to be done to empower children and to protect them from sexual predators.
Greene, in a recent interview, told Stabroek News that the CCPA responded to over 3,000 sexual abuse reports last year, the bulk of which originated in Region Four.
She cautioned about the importance of distinguishing between an increase in reports and an increase in actual sexual abuse cases, explaining that sexual abuse was there but “what is happening now is that there are more systems for reporting in place and there is more awareness. People are more willing to talk about it. Before, it was a cover down thing; there is a heightened awareness now.”
Nevertheless, Greene acknowledged that there has been a noticeable jump in the reports, and that the majority of children in the agency’s care are victims of sexual abuse. She said the road to recovery for victims is very difficult as they often have to deal with denial from their family and are often separated from them.
“In most cases, it is the abused children who suffer the most. They have to move out of the family life and go into care. Most times, it comes over that the children are being punished for talking because they have to leave home,” she said, while pointing out that in almost every instance of sexual abuse, the perpetrator is either in the home or family. As a result, it would be unsafe to keep that child in such a situation and it is felt that the best option is to take them into protective care, she explained.
In many instances, the children have a long wait for justice and Greene pointed to instances where mothers support the perpetrators instead of their own children. She cited one case where a young girl resorted to cutting her wrists, after she saw her mother stick up for her abuser instead of her.
“This was the secret pain of rejection. The child believed her mother was rejecting her even though she told her that her husband was abusing her and the child felt that the mother was upset with her, thus the rejection,” she noted.
Sexual abuse erodes a child’s self esteem and Greene added that in many instances the victims get accustomed to it, believing that it is right.
“This is what people don’t understand; what it does to a child. You rob them of that person they would have become; the man or woman they would have become, that is taken away. They are becoming something else and it takes a lot of work to get them [back] to that normal stage,” she emphasised. While getting justice for victims is one of the CCPA’s goals, Greene explained that the hardest task is “bringing that child to the point where they can deal with it and understand that it is not their fault. It takes time for children to heal.”
Sexually abused children, Greene added, could hardly reintegrate into homes where the abuse took place. In many instances, they end up living with an extended family member, she said, adding that families are often in denial. Greene has never come across a case where an abuser has admitted to sexually abusing a child and sought help. “You don’t get those. It is always denial,” she said.
Empowered
The prevention of abuse, according to Greene, rests in the hands of parents, who she believes need to do more to empower children.
“There is only so much that we can do [and] it has got to start from in the home. Since a child is old enough, the parent got to talk with them and let them know how they can protect themselves. Let them know what is bad touching and what is good touching,” she said.
The simplest way to start this process, she said, is by having a child look at a picture of someone in a bathing suit and identifying the areas that are private and should not be touched by anyone. Greene recalled an incident she witnessed in Antigua, where a boy under the age of five was left in her care and a girl around the same age from the house next door came to play. The boy later taunted the girl, calling her “ugly” and the girl, in response, poked him on his buttocks and told him that he should not say such things and should always be nice to people. Afterward, the little boy, according to Greene, kept saying that his mother told him that no one was supposed to touch him there and he complained to the girl’s father and both of his parents.
“This was a child, under the age of five, who was well taught. We have to empower our children like this,” she said. “Parents got to do a lot more work with their children to empower them on how they could be safe and how they could protect themselves; then establish that relationship where the child can tell you anything.”
She added that children do not report sexual abuse to parents for a number of reasons, including fear that they would not be believed and not wanting to disrupt their family.
Campaigns
A lot of work is being done to address the sexual abuse of children, which Greene said is at the top of the CCPA’s agenda for this year and she highlighted the success of the ‘Tell’ and the ‘Be Safe’ campaigns.
The ‘Tell’ campaign’ encourages children to tell of people touching them inappropriately. It targets Primary School Children and 99 schools across the country have so far been targeted. According to Greene, the first time it was tested, social workers had to be on standby with all the sexual abuse reports that resulted. “There is a lot of abuse around but the children don’t know how to tell,” she said.
The ‘Be Safe’ campaign, being done in collaboration with the Red Cross, targets children below the age of five. Greene noted that the CCPA is also working in collaboration with teachers as they are the first ones to spot abuse and she cited cases where teachers would make contact with the agency.
At present, the agency, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, is working on a programme for the maternal health centres, where parents would be targeted. “Children have to be aware. Their parents can’t be with them all the time and you don’t know who is a child molester and a child abuser,” she noted, while adding that anyone desirous of getting information on any form of child abuse can visit the agency or speak with a probation officer.
