Dear Editor,
I was extremely pleased to attend a timely and expertly organised workshop that focused on the sexual abuse of children and the Sexual Offences Act. The Department of Education, Region 2 in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Protection hosted the event on June 9 at the Anna Regina State House Conference Room. The two main facilitators were Senior Welfare Officers from Region 7, both of whom made excellent, stimulating and powerful presentations to mostly teachers from the various schools across the Essequibo Coast and along the Pomeroon River.
There is nothing more disturbing than to hear about the horrors of cases of child sexual abuse by predators who in many cases are persons in whom trust and confidence would have been reposed by children. While it is a global phenomenon, according to the statistics relating to the Caribbean, Guyana is second to Jamaica in terms of reported sexual offences against children. In fact the ratio is even higher in Guyana given the country’s population as compared to Jamaica.
The need however is to heighten the awareness and take pivotal steps to confront this crime. Having teachers at the forefront of this fight is also quite appropriate since they largely shape the minds and personalities of children, and often create lasting relationships with them. In contrast, however, there are some cases where teachers have also fallen prey to having inappropriate relationships with students who are under age. The facilitators strongly admonished against such behaviour and challenged teachers to uphold their noble task as professionals, regardless of whether they were trained or not.
I must commend the facilitators for such incisive input as well as the ministry for placing such an important topic very high on its agenda. This exercise must therefore be an ongoing process through consultation, coordination among the various ministries and other stakeholders, and within the communities. The responsibility must be vested in each adult to protect every child, including their relatives, from any form of sexual abuse and report such cases to the relevant authorities.
Yours faithfully,
Elroy Stephney
