GUYANA is currently observing Child Protection Week under the theme: “Promoting Social Change to Stop the violation of Children.”

Child Protection Week was first observed in 2004 with the aim of sensitising the populace on how they could get involved in protecting children from abuse. In 2017, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice) recorded the highest rate of child abuse and recent statistics show that from January to May, 2019, there have been 1,902 local cases of child abuse.

According to a breakdown of the statistics from the Child Protection Agency, 1,015 of the cases were girls, while 887 were boys who have been abused. The highest number of cases was child neglect, which totalled 865, of which 402 were girls and 463 were boys. From January to March, there were 400 reported cases of child sexual abuse.
Child protection as a matter of rights, laws, policies and programmes is an everyday event, starting in the home and extending to the wider society. Our children need protection from violence, exploitation and abuse. This protection is the collective responsibility of society, one that ought not to be ever let up on and should see continuous work through institutional strengthening and deepening.

A survey conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with Guyana three years ago, found that 18 percent of our children between the ages of five and 17 are engaged in child labour. This figure in a small society such as ours is relatively high and stamping it out requires concerted efforts on the part of government, in tandem with society. The denial of the child’s right to a normal childhood, whether it may occur out of ignorance, power play, or socio-economic circumstances, must not be condoned.
In addition to continued and intensified public education on what constitutes child labour, socio-economic depravities have to be addressed, and the full brunt of the law must be brought to bear, including making the penalty sufficiently draconian to serve as deterrence.
Government has done a lot of work in collaboration with organisations such as UNICEF to strengthen institutions. Ours is a society born out of historical experience, that to spare the rod is to spoil the child. Consequently, children have been whipped if they engaged in what the parent or responsible adult considers bad behaviour. This in many instances is born out of wanting the best for the child. This form of discipline is also incorporated into the school system, and is known as corporal punishment. Today, such is considered violent and abusive. As national conversations on this issue flare up ever so often, including from teachers as to whether this form of discipline is appropriate or not, the fact is once it remains on the statute books it is legal.

It may be opportune therefore for teachers, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Protection and other stakeholders to examine corporal punishment in our laws. Discipline is important to a child’s growth and development as it is to every individual. However, it becomes necessary to revisit appropriate forms of discipline that will not constitute abuse.
Our children are getting education from different sources and in unrestricted environments which can be unhealthy. With technological advancement, Guyana has to develop its code of standards that will protect the type of information to which children are exposed and explore ways of aiding the family in ensuring so. In addition to the type of movies children watch, it may be helpful to seek to work with television stations in determining the type of shows aired at certain hours.

There is the issue of cyber-bullying which is becoming ever prevalent. The internet is also a haven for paedophiles; the unrestricted flow of pornography; recruiting for terrorist acts and other forms of exploitation, violence and abuse. Ways have to be found to insulate our children from such a toxic environment, even as they are taught that their bodies are private, what constitutes safe spaces, how to deal with those who seek to violate them, and appropriate sex education.

In the field of education, children learn what is to come into contact with their senses. Adults have to be mindful of the things they say and do because children often take their cues. Leaders in society must not only speak to the issue of abuse in forms of intolerance, but must also be seen demonstrating that level of intolerance. While children may not be of the intellectual growth as adults, they are very discerning and perceptive. Stopping the violation of children requires collective approaches and action. Our children are depending on us.