raphael.lall@guardian.co.tt
Too many children are being abused in T&T. And if a child is being abused, it should be reported. This is the view of deputy director, care services, Children’s Authority of T&T Rhonda Gregoire-Roopchand, who said they receive roughly 400 complaints of children being abused each month. Out of this, 40 per cent are substantiated monthly.
“In excess of 400 children per month are reported as whose rights are violated. These are children who are reportedly abused, and maltreated in some ways. The role of the authority is to receive reports of any person who may believe, think or suspect that a child is abused. Our role is then to investigate and substantiate,” she told the Sunday Guardian.
The types of abuse include physical, sexual, emotional, and children who are abandoned.
She defined a “child” in T&T as any person under the age of 18 years.
Gregoire-Roopchand made the disclosure last week, just days before T&T marks World Children’s Day today.
World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day and is celebrated on November 20 each year. The aim is to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide and to improve children’s welfare.
“This date is a time when we take the opportunity to promote and celebrate the rights of children. We want to advocate and make sure that children as well as the entire population that children have rights as well as the responsibility that will allow them to thrive and become productive citizens,” according to the United Nations’ website.
The theme this year is inclusion for children regardless of race, gender, levels of wealth and disabilities.
Gregoire-Roopchand called on all stakeholders to do more to protect children.
“By the number of reports that are coming to us and the kind of allegations that we are seeing being made and those we have seen substantiated and the impact on a child, as a society we need to work together to do better. T&T’s children need to be treated better.”
She said that they work closely with the T&T Police Service (TTPS) on some of these matters that involve the charging of a perpetrator.
“Most times the Child Protection Unit, as well as members of the Gender-Based Violence Unit and the Special Victim Unit, are also involved.”
She also explained the process of dealing with reported cases.
“Our first course of action would be to avoid moving a child from his or her family. When we go to investigate we want to see if it’s true. Many of the reports we get are not substantiated, but we do find some allegations. We go and assess the situation, and we make recommendations. If a child is being abused we look to see if they can stay with other family members or other options. We also look at placement in foster care.”
To fully protect the rights of a child, all stakeholders must get involved, said Gregoire-Roopchand.
“Child protection is everybody’s business. When we see something is going wrong with a child, as a society we need to report it and give those agencies who are mandated the opportunity to act so that we can support the child. Some of our partners in child protection are the TTPS, the Special Victims Unit, the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Education. Sometimes people say they don’t want to get involved, but you don’t have to be sure. If you feel that a child’s rights are being reported, please report it.”
Asked to comment on the reasons behind the school violence that the nation is witnessing weekly and also other types of child abuse, she said that it was a complex situation but the family as well as other stakeholders in society need to do their part.
“The family and entire society need to take a role, not so much as identifying what is wrong but the role of support. That comes by recognising children’s rights, the right to education, the right to recreation, the right to family, and the right to be protected from exploitation. When we focus on advocating for these rights, a lot of the other challenges that we experience will not be as stringent. If we focus on the rights of the child, we may see some impact in relation to some of the negative elements that are showing themselves.”
‘Have more respect for our children’
Head of the Special Victims Department of the TTPS, Superintendent Claire Guy-Alleyne, told the Sunday Guardian that the mandate of the TTPS’s Child Protection Unit is to enforce the laws under the Children’s Act.
“We investigate all reports of abuse such as sexual abuse and physical abuse, abandonment, and neglect of children. We are also mandated to manage the booking centres at Maracas/St Joseph and Oropouche and in Tobago. These places house children who are in conflict with the law. In the old days what they called child prisoners.”
Referring to the statistics provided by the Children’s Authority of T&T, she also asked citizens to have more respect for the children and once this is done, there will be fewer cases of abuse of children.
“People need to have love in their hearts and understand that children are the future, and they should be nurtured and cared after.
“We have seen that most of the physical and sexual abuse is a result of abandonment and neglect. These are done by persons who the children actually know such as caregivers, family members, and teachers.”
She said institutions like the home and schools should be safe places for children.
“We have reports that children are being abused physically and sexually in the homes. Children are abused by teachers in schools. I find that to be sad and sick. At the unit, we are engaged in outreach programmes where we partner with non-government organisations and other stakeholders like the Children’s Authority.
“We carry out sensitisation programmes to bring awareness to the public about child abuse. Parents must also do their part and look after their children.”
