More Than – By Kisean Joseph[email protected]
More Than 200 Child
More than 200 cases of child sexual and physical abuse have been reported in Antigua and Barbuda so far this year. This is according to the Minister of Social and Urban Transformation Rawdon Turner.
Turner made the disclosure yesterday morning ahead of a National Child Protection Town Hall scheduled for last evening. He said professionals estimate that, for every reported case, three others go unreported.
Speaking candidly about the scale of the problem, Turner said he was “shocked” by the statistics when he assumed responsibility for the ministry roughly two years ago. He added that the true extent of abuse within households is far greater than the public realises.
“The public doesn’t know. We don’t understand,” Turner said. “And professionals have indicated that for every case that is reported, there are three cases that go unreported.”
The minister said the abuse is often perpetrated by relatives or close family associates, including fathers, uncles and family friends. He described it as a “deep-rooted problem” requiring national reflection.
Turner renewed his call for mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of abusing children, proposing 15 years as a starting point and life imprisonment for the most serious offences. He noted that Antigua and Barbuda’s laws already allow life imprisonment for abusing a child under 14, but said such sentences are rarely imposed.
“When last have you heard anyone in this country being sentenced to life for abusing a child?” Turner asked. “It’s been a while.”
Turner cited a serious case involving a 50-year-old man and a five-year-old child as evidence of the severity of some matters before the courts. He said sentences of two to three years, or probation, are inadequate given the nature of the offences.
Turner said Cabinet has already moved to tighten oversight of sentence remissions by adding the Governor-General as a further layer of authorisation. He said he expects Parliament to consider minimum-sentencing legislation soon.
The minister also referred to a case in which a mother initially refused to believe that her boyfriend was abusing her seven-year-old daughter, accepting it only after the abuse was medically confirmed at Sir Lester Bird Medical Centre.
