“The first time she run away it was like my whole heart did get cut out. I wouldn’t even say run away; I would say missing. I went to work and when I come home she not there and no clothes didn’t really missing, but she just gone.
“I look fuh this girl everywhere. Dem time duh cell phone was not a big thing, so I had to go and walk by all she friends and suh looking fuh this child and all de time is suh like me heart beating and stop and I want to know how I guh live.”
The words of a mother whose daughter has left home sometimes for days at a time, without her knowing where she was. With the advent of COVID-19, from reports, it appeared that the number of missing girls doubled. Sometimes they are found days later and in the most recent case the child was taken into protective care after she alleged abuse at home. Children don’t just up and leave their homes. There is usually an underlying issue and in many cases sexual and/or physical abuse are the prime reasons.
