• Cultural change also tagged as crucial, plus survivors ask for their voices to be heard  

The European Union-United Nations’ Spotlight Initiative (SI) is calling for an expansion in the list of prescribed persons legally obligated to report child abuse, an increase in minimum penalties for predators, and therapeutic interventions to treat both victims and perpetrators.

A prescribed person is someone who by virtue of employment or occupation has a responsibility to discharge a duty of care towards a child. In law, they are held to a higher standard of accountability than other adults.

The call was made by SI legal consultant Tania Chambers in her presentation to the SI’s roundtable Red Alert: Arresting the Child Sexual Abuse Emergency on Thursday 28 October. She said expanding the list of prescribed persons would require an amendment to the Child Care and Protection Act which currently lists only health, education and childcare authorities as prescribed persons. Ms Chambers proposed the law also include coaches, church workers and church leaders especially youth workers in churches and communities.  

‘It’s an important way of saying no space will be (available) to hide predators and pedophiles.” In making the call for higher minimum sentences for predators, she explained, “there are high maximum penalties, but we’ve seen in the past that it is possible for somebody to get a minimum sentence that makes the issue look small”.

She said a number of supporting actions are also required to make child protection laws more effective, including therapeutic treatment of child victims and perpetrators to break the cycles of violence. “Our interventions have got to focus on rehabilitation on both ends of the spectrum because issues are often generational”. She extended the call for therapy to frontline workers who may be desensitized as a result of repeatedly managing traumatic cases. In further addressing the need for effectiveness of the law, Chambers called for realistic caseloads for social workers and recruitment of more professionals into frontline work. In addition, she said, training of personnel in law enforcement, justice and health sectors should be trauma-informed and sensitive to the rights of children.

The SI legal consultant also called for a shift in behavior change communication interventions. “We need to get into the communities where these myths exist and …  to challenge the values that support different types of abuses which speaks to how we value children and how we treat children as persons who require protection,” she said. Ms Chambers said public education efforts need to be more consistent, more community based, victim-sensitive and age appropriate: “For example, an underaged girl is never a girlfriend and boys require the same level of protection that girls do,” she explained.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon Robert Nesta Morgan in his keynote address announced that government is seeking to make provisions for the creation of an offence of predatory sexual assault and its incorporation into relevant legislation for the protection of Jamaica’s most vulnerable. He explained that this would penalize any adult who engages in acts amounting to grievous sexual assault with a vulnerable victim such as a child under 12 or someone with a mental disorder. He said government intends for this offence to carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

He called child abuse one of the biggest threats to Jamaica today and admitted that it is challenging for him to accept that many Jamaicans do not love children. “The reality is that many Jamaicans do not see children in the way that they should. They do not see them as human beings having independent thoughts and feelings but see them as receptacles of their own pleasure or victims of their frustration and anger.”  The Minister assured that government is committed to addressing the challenges as quickly as possible, including through legislative amendments to protect children.

And in a powerful and poignant address on behalf of survivors of childhood sexual violence, Eve For Life Executive Director, Joy Crawford said survivors of rape and incest are asking for the option to have safe and legal abortions. “It's very difficult for a 14/15-year-old to stare into the eyes of a child for which her father, her biological father is the father. Survivors are saying how do I tell my child that their father is their grandfather? How do I grow my child and love this child the way that is required?”

Ms Crawford said relevant response agencies also need to provide age-appropriate care and protection for child survivors differentiated from adult survivors.  She explained that the vulnerability of the child and adolescent is much higher, but planning, interventions and responses do not recognize the child’s innocence and vulnerability. “They are not adults. We need to understand that the child lacks capacity,” she emphasized. She also called for survivors to have access to long term psychological support because rape is long term trauma.

Survivors are also requesting that parents and guardians be placed high on the list of duty bearers, Ms Crawford stated. She said clients of her organization say: “Can I bring charges against my mother? I told her and she did nothing”. She also called for proposals for strengthening laws and interventions to keep the survivor at the center. “Nothing for us without us. We are the survivors, and we want more survivors to be able to survive and not just to survive but to become overcomers. This event will reassure the survivors who want to be heard.”

The Red Alert Roundtable is the second in a series of advocacy webinars tailored to explore legislative and policy issues, gaps and solutions addressing violence against women and girls. The final roundtable in the series will be convened on Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence Against Women as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence on 25 November.

The Spotlight Initiative is a global, multi-year partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. Launched with a global seed funding commitment of €500 million from the European Union, the initiative represents an unprecedented global effort to invest in gender equality and women’s empowerment as a precondition and driver for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Jamaica represents one of the largest investments in Caribbean Spotlight countries, with an 8 million Euro allocation. Participating agencies are UN WOMEN, UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA.

The six pillars of the Spotlight Initiative are: Pillar One, Legislative and Policy Frameworks; Pillar Two, Strengthening Institutions; Pillar Three, Prevention and Social Norms; Pillar Four, Delivery of Quality, Essential Services; Pillar Five, Data Availability and Capacities; Pillar Six, Supporting the Women’s Movement.

Contact:   Gillian Scott, UNDP Communications Analyst, Kingston office, 1 -3 Lady Musgrave Road, Kingston 5, Jamaica. Tel: 876 978 2390 – 9 Ext 2032; Mobile and WhatsApp: 876 509 0724; Email: gillian.scott@undp.org