Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:59 AM
Mar 29, 2010 News
Unreported Child Abuse …
“If you know of a child being abused and you say you aren’t going to bother then that makes you a part of the problem” – Mrs. Ann Greene, Director of the Child Protection Agency.
In a recent interview, Greene noted that the issue that encompasses the largest portions of the agency’s time and resources is that of child abuse. The phones ring all day long as reports come in from concerned citizens all around the country.
She noted that the Agency does take every single report seriously but the constraints of time and staff that it is faced with will affect how many cases they can respond to in a timely manner. Each case is assessed on a separate basis and in order of urgency – this being determined by the level of danger the case officer may feel is posed to the child involved.
As such, a number of cases may be reported now and no response will be seen until a free case officer can be appointed to make the visit.
However, that does not mean that the public should stop reporting.
In fact, it means that they should keep reporting the matter until they see some results.
Child Abuse has been a part of the fabric of Guyana’s society for generations and thousands are affected by it every day.
Yet it is only recently that the authorities have been able to generate real figures and trends in terms of prevalence.
For years it has fallen under the category of ‘family crime’, the kind of sordid tale that was kept quiet for fear of embarrassment or worse.
Neighbours and other family members never reported the matter since they feared that the persons responsible would get into ‘serious’ trouble over something ‘small’ like beating a child.
Even this type of abuse, however, is much easier to spot than the more reprehensible acts some abusers inflict upon children.
Fathers and stepfathers force vaginal and anal sex on children, while their mothers stand by and let these things happen to their offspring, sometimes even refusing to believe when the child complains.
There are also cases of women sexually abusing their children and stepchildren too.
The horrific stories have no end, there was one case where the victim was a young girl, and she related to the social worker that she would have to put the Vaseline on her father’s penis for him to rape her.
Mrs. Greene stressed that although the number of reported cases is so high, this may just be the tip of the iceberg. There are children so young that they have no idea that they are actually being abused, neglected or exploited. The Agency cannot be everywhere and see everything, and further the responsibility to protect children does not just fall on Social Services, Greene said.
Instead, the onus is on every member of society to see it as a duty to report possible child abuse to the relevant authorities.
And because those authorities cannot be everywhere, they are depending on the community to be their eyes and ears, to report any instances of suspected abuse so that the Agency can do its job.
Greene said that, “We cannot protect a child if we do not know that child is being abused.”
She noted and at the end of the day the goal is to keep all children safe.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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