The Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) at the University of the West Indies’ St Augustine Campus (IGDS) says it is deeply concerned about reports of children and young people who have been harmed and continue to experience high levels of insecurity within childcare residencies throughout Trinidad and Tobago.
In a statement yesterday, the IGDS said: “We call upon the State to act immediately on the “Safeguarding Children in Community Residencies and Child Support Centres in Trinidad and Tobago” Report and to urgently follow through on the report’s recommendations.
“We remind the Government that this latest report—submitted in December 2021 to the Minister of Gender and Child Affairs, released to the public on 28 April 2022—is yet another in a long list of reports on the status of children in state-funded and privately-operated homes for over two decades.”
The IGDS said it has long produced research on the issues of child sexual abuse in Trinidad and Tobago and continues to offer training and public information emerging from the action-research project “Breaking the Silence (BTS): Child Sexual Abuse and Incest: A Multi-Sectoral Approach” (2008-2012).
It said a fundamental driver of this project was the need to challenge prevailing attitudes and perceptions of child sexual abuse within Trinidad and Tobago.
The IGDS said the project was initiated in response to concerns expressed by a wide range of stakeholders throughout Trinidad and Tobago, who acknowledged child sexual abuse’s taboo character and diverse beliefs about it across local communities.
The project noted the inaction and assumed tolerance of child sexual abuse, and demanded that the situation be researched and unearthed.
The ongoing work of the project includes teacher training, development of BTS toolkits, public information sessions, and capacity building with civil society and faith-based organisations.
It said Emeritus Professor Rhoda Reddock was the project lead researcher of Break The Silence.
