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
