Gov’t urged to speed up child protection laws
THE Jamaica Coalition on the Rights of the child (JCRC) yesterday called for urgent legislation to protect children to deal with the escalating abuse of children in Jamaica.
“The process of developing a proposed Child Care and Protection Act has been a very protracted one, spanning the last eight years. In the meantime the abuse of children has increased to epidemic proportions prompting the need for urgent action to protect them,” the JCRC said in its report to be presented to the UN committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva on February 4.
“We therefore recommend the passage of an interim Public Defender for Children Act which will ensure mechanisms for the protection of all children through speedy and effective intervention by the appointee who would report to Parliament and the people of Jamaica,” the report said.
About 29 children were murdered last year and 11 burnt to death, according to figures from the Constabulary Communication Network. There were also several high-profile cases last year of children under five years old being shot and killed by gunmen.
“We are concerned and we want our children to become bright ones with happy futures. From the media reports and other feedback we have been getting our children are not happy. From our viewpoint our children are in crisis,” said chairperson of the group, Margaret Macaulay. She said that ‘it took a village’ to raise a child and that something needed to be done until the proposed Child Care and Protection Act is passed.
According to Macaulay, her organisation was gravely concerned with the length of time the government had taken to pass the Act and she hoped the process would be completed within the next six months.
The JCRC also said that its report was a direct response to the Jamaican Government’s report to the United Nations on the Rights of the Child 1998.
The coalition congratulated the Government for its efforts of legislative reform but said that much more needed to be done to enforce the laws.
“The major concern that the JCRC wishes to record is that of enforcement. Children have indicated that they do not feel that the laws protect them, especially in child abuse cases,” the report said. “Many children voice mistrust of the police and they report that they are mistreated by operators of the public transport system.”
Parental responsibility was also highlighted as another area greatly needing improvement.
“Surveys have also indicated that parenting styles and practices are very likely to inflict physical, emotional and psychological damage on children,” the organisation said. It called for a system of counselling which would be more geared to the specific needs of children.
It also highlighted the following:
* the high poverty level in Jamaica, with about 40 per cent of children under 14 living in extreme poverty and not 1.5 per cent as stated in the Government report; and
* the need for improvements in Child Health as ‘statistics show that children make up the majority of burn, poison and laceration victims’.
The JCRC is an umbrella group for voluntary agencies working towards the advancement and protection of the rights of children. According to Macaulay, a copy of the report had been presented to the government and there would be some discussion with them before it is presented overseas.