Jamaica is facing an epidemic of child abuse, Education and Youth Minister, Fayval Williams, has declared.
The minister pointed to the troubling statistics that the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) receives about 12,000 calls about child abuse cases every year.
“There is an epidemic of child abuse in Jamaica. I don’t know of any other way to say that,” Williams indicated.
She was speaking at the National Church Service in recognition of Saturday’s observance of World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse at Andrews Memorial Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Based on the cases assessed by the CPFSA, Williams said child abuse “takes many forms” locally.
“It could be because a child has been beaten unconscious, it could be because that child has been sexually abused, neglected, (or) because of emotional abuse, child labour and child trafficking,” she stated.
In noting that some children are abused more than once, Williams said the situation affecting minors could be one of the reasons why so many social ills, including violence in schools and indiscipline on the nation roads, exist today.
The minister is imploring Jamaicans to play their roles in looking out for the warning signs of abuse among children, given the frightening statistics from the CPFSA.
In relation to physical discipline of children, which can often lead to physical abuse, Williams called on parents to exercise patience, among other alternatives.
