Carmona disturbed by child abuse stats

President Anthony Carmona has admitted to being “disturbed” by statistics provided by Children’s Authority chairman Hanif Benjamin, who said the authority had received 45,000 complaints from children about domestic abuse over the past two years.

Benjamin, a clinical therapist and clinical traumatologist, gave the statistics during Mass at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help RC Church, Harris Promenade in San Fernando on Sunday.

He said out of the 45,000 calls, the authority knew of 13,000 cases of children being abused. And it was a sombre Carmona who, during a visit to the San Fernando Boys’ RC Primary School, Harris Promenade on the occasion of Universal Children’s Day, said children were not only being bullied at the schools but in the home as well.

“Today is Universal Children’s Day, a day that is very significant - its theme – no violence against children, because we live in a society where there is great abuse,” Carmona said, adding, “in fact it is very disturbing when I read the statistics this morning from chairman Hanif Benjamin, so I feel it is very important as adults in our society, we must always demonstrate and show love to our young children. “And that is why sometimes we have concerns about people being bullied, but the bottom line is our children are being bullied in our homes. And rather than put these things on social media, we need to arrest the problem.”

He recalled the most horrible crimes he ever prosecuted as an attorney involved the murder of young children. And his advice to the students was that they should set the example to the adults by being nice to each other.