As many as one in three children in the Eastern Caribbean have faced sexual abuse, according to the charity UNICEF.
Yet the vast majority of instances of child rape, abuse and incest continue to go unreported, leaving young victims feeling helpless and suffering in silence, often through to adulthood.
To highlight the scourge, local psychotherapist Dawn-Marie Hughes appeared on this morning’s Observer AM show.
She told host Dr Jacqui Quinn that – more often than not – the perpetrator is someone close to home.
“Most often, these acts are perpetrated by persons who are familiar to the child, someone the child trusts and depends on, someone they love and respect. It’s often a family member or a trusted family friend.”
Hughes, who works for the Student Support Unit in the Ministry of Education, detailed how unscrupulous offenders groom their young victims.
She said perpetrators often take the time to study their targets.
“someone who studies children, someone who looks for children who are vulnerable, children who have a need, because we recognize that parents cannot provide all the possible needs that a child has, and especially if their socioeconomic status is not where they would like it to be. And so you would have groomers who would find opportunities to exploit children. They gain their trust. A lot of time, the perpetrators are persons who the child would have known through family or even a family member. Imagine that you have a child that’s growing up in a home where, you know, they’re not really well off. And so every time Uncle John comes over, they’re bringing candy and they’re talking to you nicely. And especially if you’ve had a bad day and the person presents themselves as the trusting uncle, and they begin to give you things. And that is how they woo you in.”
Hughes said groomers are often trusted by victims’ families.
“Children are not the only persons who are groomed because the offender will groom the parents, groom the family to get access to the child. We have this culture, we grow up calling the neighbors Auntie, this and Uncle that and boundaries are not set for children to address you in the manner which you are to be addressed because you can address someone Miss Don Marie or Miss Jackie and still be respectful. But when you put that element of Uncle and Aunt in it, it lowers the fences in that it’s not expected that Uncle is going to do me anything that is unnatural.”
So, would you know the signs to look out for if your child was being abused?
Hughes detailed some potential key indicators.
“You will begin to see withdrawal or the child may appear chronically depressed, like constantly depressed. No matter what the situation is, their mood is not shifting. You will find inappropriate sex play or premature understanding of the nature of sex and apart from the act, the feeling of being threatened by physical contact or closeness to the offender. You will see a lot of promiscuity. You may also find children running away from home.”
If you have been affected by the issues in this story, you can seek help from the family and social services division on 562-5669. That number again is 562-5669.