Child abuse public education programme coming
January 24, 2007
CONCERNED about the number of children who are victims of sex crimes and other abuses, the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) says it is planning to launch a massive education programme on forms of child abuse, procedures to follow when reporting abuse and the consequences of knowing of abuse and not reporting it.
"Our children are under abuse," Inspector Dutress Foster-Gardner of CISOCA told the Observer.
"One of our main targets this year is to go out to the schools; we have to get to the children," she said.
Last year, while the police reported that murders and other serious crimes were down, they reported an increase in carnal abuse - which is any sexual offence committed against children under the age of 16.
Foster-Gardner said the programme - the major part of which will be workshops in schools - is expected to start at the end of next month. It will target school children as well as parents, and will run for as long as is necessary, Foster-Gardner said.
Foster-Gardner said the aim is to conduct these workshops in one or two schools per week.
"We are going to target them [the schools] one by one until we complete the whole task," Foster-Gardner said, pointing out that the aim is to go to all the schools in Kingston and St Andrew in the coming year and talk with the students as well as the Parent Teacher's Associations....
Author: Kerry Mccatty
Source: Jamaica Observer
