CHILD Protection Week 2020 was held under the theme, “Breaking the Silence on Child Sexual Abuse”. The week of activities promotes the safety and well-being of children. It ran from September 6 to 12, 2020. The National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) coordinated National Child Protection Week. Guyana’s Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) Director, Ann Greene, during a virtual rally, revealed that between January and August 2020, the agency responded to 529 cases of child sexual abuse, with Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) recording the highest rate of abuse, with 4.6 per 1000 children affected, followed by Region One (Barima-Waini) with 3.8, and Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) with 2.7. Human Services and Social Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud posited that families and communities should network to provide safe havens for children, to ensure that they enjoy a childhood that is free from abuse. The event was the highlight of observances being held under the overall theme, “Protecting Children and Empowering Families to cope with the Global Pandemic”. During the rally, the minister also reiterated urgent calls for adults to listen and believe children who report all forms of sexual abuse. She revealed that the ministry has optimised its efforts to ensure that parents are aware of the danger, and are knowledgeable about ways of protecting their children. In May 2012, this newspaper reported the worry level of abuse of children in Essequibo. According to the report, Jonathan James was only 10 years old when his biological father and stepmother locked him in an air conditioned room, and made him stand on an ‘X’ as punishment for his ‘crime’ of wetting his bed. Jonathan is reported to have died of dehydration.
Neesa Gopaul’s fate was brutally determined by those she trusted.

A few years ago, travellers who have transited Charity during rush hour have seen children, seemingly no older than 11, linger around bars or restaurants, begging for morsels of food or money to purchase same. When asked the reason for begging, one of these children had said that his mother sent him to beg, because his father abandoned them.

The news report revealed that within proximity of Moruca, on the Pomeroon River, a girl child was reportedly being severely molested and raped by her grandfather, a former teacher. For those knowledgeable of this particular situation, the girl lived with her grandparents, but, sadly, the destitution and lack of sustained sobriety of those adults left these children vulnerable, unprotected, and neglected.

In another instance, it was revealed that a report was made to the Moruca Police Station about the need to investigate parents about the progressive delinquency of their daughters and granddaughters. However, a perpetrator was locked up and released shortly after.

These children are coerced into destructive situations by trusted elders during their formative years, flayed by covert and overt abuse. They are emotionally abandoned by parents, who are themselves devoid of moral compasses through their own childhood experiences, and gradually learn to accept rejection and public vilification and ridicule as characteristic of their human identity. In a vicious cycle, victims who are deprived of love, kindness and understanding generally inflict their childhood torment on others, because compassion, sensitivity to the feelings of others, and a moral compass were amputated from his/her psyche since childhood. This psychological decimation is a main contributory factor to violence, crime and an ethos of lawlessness within families, communities and ultimately national societal landscapes. Sexual exploitation, physical and emotional torture, humiliation, betrayal, incest and neglect traumatise children to the point of dehumanising them. However, trauma is not synonymous with insanity; but the psychological and emotional scars can lead to substance abuse, prostitution and escalating self-destructive actions, oftentimes with disastrous consequences for societies. During the virtual confab, Ms. Greene urged more persons to become advocates for children’s rights, and to support efforts to ensure safe childhoods. Her call for the establishment of a special victims’ quick-response unit in police stations, staffed with specially-trained police officers, social services officers, including child protection officers and public health officers to facilitate speedy investigations and bring child sex abusers to swift justice must be heeded.