Child Sexual Abuse reports alarming in VI – Stoutt-James
Mrs Stoutt-James was part of a panel of guests on the Umoja radio programme aired last evening, April 4, 2013 on a local radio station. Other guests included Adrianne Grant-Davis of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) and Eric Braithwaite, who partnered with the Social Development Department (SDD) in its initiative.
“I have to say that overall, within the last five (5) years, we’ve seen a decrease in the number of reported cases (of child abuse) that we’ve had,” Stoutt-James said.
What is alarming within the SDD, she note, is that for the first time in the last two (2) years, the Territory has had the highest type of cases reported, being of a sexual nature. Consequently, the SDD has joined with UNICEF in their ‘Break the Silence’ initiative, to bring light to the issue, Stoutt-James added.
The SDD representative disclosed that physical abuse was previously the most reported case of child abuse within the Territory.
According to Stoutt-James, while awareness and prevention measures have been taken by the SDD to bring attention to issues of child abuse, efforts have been made based on the statistics of the recent past, to focus primarily on child sexual abuse during this year.
The theme being used by the SDD for 2013 is ‘Break The Silence, End Child Sexual Abuse’.
She further disclosed, “we’ve been trying to get all of the Territories in the region to come on [board] because, overall sexual abuse is an issue… a social issue in our Caribbean islands so we thought based on the stats that we saw, this would be an opportune time to get on the bandwagon and bring it to the Virgin Islands, so that is our focus this year.”
The SDD has partnered with a group of men from various spectrum in the community to get involved in the initiative.
While there have been reports of females being involved in incidents of child sexual abuse, Stoutt-James said that there have been no convictions within the Territory in this regard to the best of her knowledge.
She noted that legislation requires family members having suspicions of abuse to report these suspicions, failing which they may be imprisoned or fined upon summary conviction. This is based on the Children and Young Persons Act (2005).
Grant-Davis of the RVIPF, explained that a person convicted of a charge of a sexual offence against a child under the age of 13 years, can be sentenced to a period of life imprisonment. This can be considered statutory rape. Sentences for offences against persons between the age of 13-16 years fluctuate between 6-10 year terms of imprisonment.
Stoutt-James further disclosed that work has been ongoing for some time to get a protocol for Child Abuse to be taken to Cabinet for sanctioning. This includes a child abuse register as well as a perpetrators’ register.
She was confident that these would be completely implemented before the end of the year as law within the Territory. This measure would essentially allow persons convicted of various acts of Child Sexual Abuse to be listed and identified.
The month of April is officially designated as Child Abuse Prevention & Awareness Month by the Ministry of Health and Social Development; the theme for this year is "A Community in Action: Preventing Child Maltreatment and Promoting Well-Being"
The SDD is a department under the Ministry of Health and Social Development, which is headed by Hon. Ronnie W. Skelton. In a recent message Hon. Skelton stated, “Prevention is supporting pregnant mothers through nutritional counseling and parenting education; Prevention is eradicating all forms of violence from our homes; Prevention is providing the avenues for early cognitive stimulation; Prevention is supporting families and communities in raising healthy and productive citizens; but more importantly prevention is sending a stern message to offenders that no form of child abuse will be tolerated.”
He also encouraged persons to continue to work collectively to safeguard the wellbeing of children and challenged every citizen and resident of the Virgin Islands to become involved in the prevention of child abuse.
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16 Responses to “Child Sexual Abuse reports alarming in VI – Stoutt-James”
Now..... you all investigate and report ALL cases fairly. Stop throwing some cases under the rug!!
Section 118(1) of the Criminal Code of 1997-Amendment Act,No 7 of 2002,states" Any MAN who has sexual intercourse with a girl of age THIRTEEN yrs or under the age of THIRTEEN yrs commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14-YEARS".
These sickos need castration plain and simple.
So what happens to the victims after the perpetrator is convicted, what steps are being put into place for the Victims as it was not addressed in this article.