The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1989. Consequently, this ratified Convention was extended to the British Overseas Territories in 1994 and provides solid guidelines and legislation regarding the proper treatment of children.

L-R Rhonda Connor Leroy Hill Jaqueline Connor Carlton Pickering Sanford Richardson not shown Jason Allen (taking the photo)

To provide for accountability in the areas of child protection and child abuse, a workshop was held in Antigua on September 19-20 with the theme of “Responding to child abuse in our communities.” The workshop was made possible by UNICEF and invitations were extended to high ranking officers in the areas of churches, education and media. Delegates from Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands helped to form a panel of more than 40 people to discuss prevalent issues facing children and how they can be combated in their respective sectors.

Rhonda Connor, Chief Education Officer, Leroy Hill, President of the Anguilla Teacher’s Union, Jacqueline Connor, Education Officer (Multi-Professional Support Services), Carlton Pickering Sr., CEO KCNTV, Sanford Richardson, Commissioner of Department of Social Services and Jason Allen, Journalist for The Anguillian, were among the invitees that represented Anguilla. Heather Stewart, a Child Protection Specialist with UNICEF, made a presentation to give a panoramic view of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its role in the Caribbean at large. She identified key areas of concern throughout the Caribbean in regard to children such as illegal adoption which is a prime example of a violation of the rights of children. Not as heinous, is loose adoption of children by people who are not blood relatives which leads to confusion in the future when their care giver passes on and leaves the issue of inheritance behind for true relatives to fight over.

Manager of the British Overseas Territories Child Protection Programme, Mrs. Felecia Robinson, was one of the organizers and presenters and dealt closely with looking at child abuse in the Caribbean. Various problems were discussed such as the fact that one of the major areas of concern tends to be the lack of interdepartmental communication in dealing with child abuse. Besides the typical issues that arise when speaking about child abuse such as molestation, rape, beating, cruel punishment, and many others, it was highlighted that children are not only abused in the home but in institutions as well, by staff and care givers and also by the simple lack of services. Some of the causes of abuse that were identified were: economic pressures, cultural practices, parenting, societal factors, social conditions, overcrowding or limited housing and drug abuse. It was agreed by all the members of the panel that more awareness of this ever growing problem is one of the first steps to resolving the issue.

The lack of awareness of child abuse in our communities stems from certain issues that contribute to underreporting such as: small children lack the capacity to ask for help, fear of reprisals from predators, interventions by authorities will make it worse, there is a culture of silence, there is also a stigma related to reporting as it brings shame, persistent social acceptance of some types of abuses against children, and finally some laws condone and reflect societal approval of violence when it is described as or disguised as disciplinary action. One important solution for this was to permit children to believe that they have a voice. This of course has to start within the family and therefore “family conferencing” should become a common practice. Families should set time aside each week to meet and let the children discuss difficult issues they are facing on a daily basis within the home, school and the community.

After general presentations were finished, all three factions (pastors, educators, journalists) separated into their groups to confront areas of concern in their respective fields when confronting the problem of child abuse. It was discussed that the media can play a preventative role by way of publishing awareness tips, having radio programmes, do more research into the topic so that the public can be made aware, give young people a voice in the media and use supplements that are distributed through newspapers. The pastors agreed that through the churches there should be more information sharing about child abuse, training on the Rights of the Child, establishment of a national protocol and advocacy for legal reform. In the realm of education, much discussion occurred as educators have a large responsibility in identifying and solving problems that surround the violation of the Rights of the Child. They all agreed that identification of child protection coordinators in Anguilla were necessary, there should be sensitization and training at all levels, multi-agency cooperation should be strengthened, the National PTA should play a large role and school security should be strengthened.

The delegates from Anguilla represented their nation well. There was much enthusiasm and commitment to confronting this problem not only in our region but in the Caribbean.

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