Rampant child abuse

AS THE POLICE released new statistics on the prevalence of child abuse in this country at a media briefing on Thursday, head of the Special Victims Department Supt Claire Guy-Alleyne called on parents and guardians to be particularly vigilant about the activities of their children.

And yet, the very figures released by the police on that day underlined the insidious fact that it is most often parents and family members who are the perpetrators of these crimes.

The number of cases is alarming.

According to ASP Christopher Aroon, who spoke at the media briefing, 504 parents and family members were accused of sexual assault in 2023. By way of comparison, in the same period there were reports against 15 teachers, 18 neighbours and ten family friends of victims. Priests, police officers, firemen and caregivers have also been occasionally implicated.

What is disturbing about these figures is not only the fact that they are so high. It is equally the fact that they are so low: they may well be a drop in the bucket. The Children’s Authority receives about 5,000 reports of abuse through its hotlines on an annual basis.

The discrepancy likely reflects the reality that it is one thing to make an allegation to the Children's Authority anonymously, it is another thing to approach law enforcement officials who require evidence and testimony. And because these cases often involve minors in vulnerable situations as well as family members, investigators face challenges above and beyond the usual evidentiary hurdle.

According to ASP Aroon, there have only been 106 arrests for the year, as opposed to reports.

One report, though, would be bad enough. When we consider how some victims of child abuse suffer for the rest of their lives and very often themselves go on to become abusers, the magnitude of this problem becomes clearer.

It is a problem that is worsening, according to the police statistics, which have seen a jump in arrests (76 people were arrested last year.)

The Cabinet-appointed child abuse inter-agency task force established last year needs to have a broader composition and possibly a wider mandate. Clearly, there is a need for a stronger, multi-sectoral body that can co-ordinate the response of the State and stakeholders. Such a wider mandate should embrace, as much as possible, non-governmental actors and should not be moored to any executive. We need a permanent body that can tackle this problem on a continuous basis.

Consideration should also be given to refreshing the mandate of the investigatory team established to probe care homes, led by Justice Judith Jones. That special team was given five and a half months to work. But clearly, these issues require a long-term effort.