TWO INCIDENTS INVOLVING THE DEATHS OF CHILDREN over the past few months have thrown child abuse and child care in the glare of the public spotlight.
Barbadians reacted in disbelief when news broke about 12-year-old Shemar Weekes dying in an alleged suicide.
Many people expressed disgust with the rumoured circumstances surrounding reasons that may have led to the little boy’s death. Not long after, there was further consternation over revelations of six-year-old Jahan King succumbing to injuries sustained in suspicious circumstances.
These were high profile cases, and not included in the 864 cases of abuse involving 1 173 children reported to the Child Care Board between April 1, last year and March 31, 2015, according to statistics shared with the SUNDAY SUN.
Chairman of the Child Care Board Ken Knight estimated those statistics might represent a mere quarter of the truth of the incidence of child abuse occurring across Barbados, most of it going unreported. He said he had been told of backdoor settlements of cases quietly made behind the scenes in some sectors. In such cases it was allegedly the offer of money to terminate the pregnancy of a minor, by a perpetrator who was someone of means.
Knight disclosed victims of such abuse could find themselves subjected to abortions, while the perpetrator used his money to preserve his reputation.
The chairman acknowledged the Child Care Board had come in for severe public criticism, related to claims about the way the Government agency had handled one of the recent cases that attracted much media attention.
But explaining the board’s role, the chairman said the agency was the “the primary child protection agency . . . with a mandate to investigate reports of child abuse and neglect . . . authorised if necessary to remove children from their homes, and under exceptional circumstances, petition the courts for custody”.
Knight detailed a list of “goals and objectives” he said the board had set itself to improve its performance faced with the kind of challenges that may have resulted in the public questions about the relevance and performance of the agency.
For example, he cited the challenge of “significantly reducing caseloads so that case workers have more time to focus on providing children and families with the right help at the right time, and pay greater attention to monitoring children and families as they move towards achievement of agreed outcomes and goals”.
With a child abuse unit comprising only five of a total of 16 child care officers, the burden of responding to cases and the ensuing process involved in finding a solution to each case, Knight pointed out, placed a strain on the board’s resources.
Yet, the Child Care Board’s director Joan Crawford advised Barbadians they should not hestitate to report cases of child abuse.
The board’s ongoing public relations campaign was bearing fruit, she said, judging from the number of reports coming into the board. She appealed to the public to give more concise information when making reports “that we can locate the persona and have something to work on”.
“Present what they see as a suspected case. If you see something, say something. Do not just see it and ignore it,” she urged.
The “it” she defined as maltreatment of a child, and included physical abuse, sexual abuse, exposure to sexual activity such as pornographic movies and fondling. Verbal abuse in the form of name-calling was another form of abuse that Crawford said the board was noticing especially with some parents who appeared to lack parenting skills.
Mothers have been known to turn a blind eye to incidents of sexual abuse reported to them by their children, often by the boyfriend of a mother, sometimes by a male relative in the same household. These vicious acts often go unreported and the predators are left to inflict the emotional damage over and over again. Crawford said people had a duty to report these things.
But she pointed out whereas there were public expectations that the board should punish perpetrators, the board’s was in fact a duty of care for the victimised children, while punishment of the predator was a matter for the police.
“The Child Care Board can only refer the matter to the police,” Crawford pointed out.
The chairman explained: “At the moment the various child protection agencies such as the Child Care Board, the Police Department, the Courts and the Probation departments, along with the non-governmental agencies like PAREDOS all focus heavily on their respective areas of intervention, and collaboration is usually ad hoc.”
He believes there has been “a general failure” to recognise that intervention measures must be simultaneous and implemented in an integrated manner.
Knight said he would like to see risk factors for child abuse and neglect addressed “in a timely and appropriate manner so that abused and neglected children “receive the support and care they need for regaining and maintaining their safety and well-being”.