Underreporting of child abuse could be hiding the true picture of the crime, especially among boys.
Child Care Board-reported cases were 1 446 between 2015 and 2016 and for each year since 2011 there have been more than 1 000 reported cases.
Professionals believe, however, those figures represented about half of the actual cases since there was a major problem of under-reporting locally.
Consultant psychiatrist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Dr Maisha Emmanuel, who spoke on Confronting Child Abuse in Small Societies, said there may be under-reporting because girls were more likely to come forward while boys almost never spoke out. (LK)
Please read the full story in today’s Saturday Sun, or in the eNATION edition.