Caricom, Unicef to Strengthen Caribbean Child Abuse Policies

Caricom representative Morella Joseph says research has made it clear that there has been no reduction in incidents of violence against children in the region in recent years.

It is for this reason that Caricom countries say they are making child protection a priority and devising a regional strategy to tackle it.

“These issues have a devastating impact on children, threatening their survival, their development, and their protection and participation in society with serious psychological, developmental and socioeconomic implications,” she said.

For many islands, the biggest concern in relation to violence against children is the sexual abuse of females between the ages of 12 and 15.

The head of human services in Saint Lucia says the issue is truly disheartening and stamping out violence requires commitment from Caricom countries and a willingness to work together.

“I have no doubt in our own way we all try to end this violence. We recognize however that it is a collective response; it's not just a Saint Lucia response or Dominica or a Barbados response but has to be a regional response,” said Elizabeth Lewis.

UNICEF officials say while strides have been made towards preventing all forms of abuse against children, there is a lot of work to be done to achieve this goal.

Those responsible for shaping the policies to protect the Caribbean's children say the goal is to ensure a violence, exploitation, and abuse-free environment.

In 2013, a number of Caribbean islands launched the ‘Break the Silence’ campaign, as part of a larger initiative to end child sexual abuse. Campaign organizers say challenges include: human and technical limitations, mobilizing males to join the cause and addressing the social and moral norms that prevent the reporting of abuse.

In 2015, the Caricom and UNICEF partners are hoping to hammer out a comprehensive and effective framework for tackling abuse.