AT LAST week Thursday's opening of the joint Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and Ministry of Health Workshop on the Inter-American System for the Promotion and Defence of the Rights of the Child, comments made by the Attorney-General A.J. Nicholson illustrate the disconnect which exists between words and actions in so many aspects of governmental functioning. Having described the Government's legislative agenda, Minister Nicholson went on to say that the enactment of laws would only work to protect children if there is the will to implement and enforce them. He said that Government cannot tackle what it knows nothing about. He spoke of the fact that often people who hear the cry of a child don't want to get involved, don't want to interfere, and the child is left to be brutalised. He said that we cannot be reticent as whistleblowers in this regard, that child abuse has its telltale signs, and it is time to act on what we perceive. The Attorney-General further said that persons who see these telltale signs of child abuse need to inform interested persons and agencies so they can investigate and act.
ACTION
Minister Nicholson was speaking generally in his comments, encouraging us all to take action when instances of child abuse come to our attention. He could just as well have been speaking specifically to Ambassador for Children Marjorie Taylor, his ministerial colleague John Junor, the staff of the Ministry of Health and the Child Services Division, the Commissioner of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions, as well as the supervisory staff of various children's homes, encouraging them to act with alacrity to protect the children within children's homes and places of safety where allegations of sexual and other types of abuse have been made.
At that workshop, Jamaicans for Justice presented a report on abuse of children in children's homes and places of safety to IACHR Special Rapporteur on Rights of the Child, Susanna Villaran, who was attending and participating in the workshop. One of the cases that formed the basis for that report was that of the six-year-old adoptive son of Kay Osbourne, which was brought to public attention earlier this year. Ms. Osbourne made her concerns public only after having reported them to Children's Services officials, Ministry of Health officials (including the Minister), and the Ambassador for Children, among others. The responses she got were completely inadequate in terms of protecting her child and providing him with the necessary therapeutic care, protecting other children with whom he might come into contact, ending the neglect at the homes which allows for such abuse to take place, holding accountable those within the system who have failed to act to protect the children in their care, and investigating with the aim of prosecuting those who have perpetrated acts of abuse. In her role as whistleblower, Ms Osbourne has not been met with the support and encouragement suggested by Minister Nicholson's call for people to come forward as whistleblowers. Her experience has been similar to that of others who have brought cases of child abuse in children's homes to the attention of the authorities - inaction, hostility, and attempts to silence (or at least mute) her message.
ABUSE REIGNS
Though some children's homes and places of safety in Jamaica provide safe and nurturing havens for children, anecdotal evidence suggests that sexual and physical abuse, neglect, maltreatment, and endangerment of institutionalised children is widespread and entrenched within the childcare and protection system. There are allegations and confirmed instances of children living in some state-run homes and places of safety engaging in sexual activities with each other and, in isolated cases, with animals. Some are also sexually abused by adults who either work at or visit the premises. What is most troubling is the lack of any affirmative action or intervention by the government to stop the abuse and seriously address the issues that have arisen. These institutions are currently not held accountable for neglect which permits the abuse to carry on.
While all parties involved in the Jamaican child welfare system are not guilty of wrong doing, our experience is that the majority may well be -- an estimate that is unacceptable in a sector where there should be absolutely no tolerance for corruption and mismanagement. Unless these deficiencies are addressed, any reform measures will be a waste of time and effort. The corruption, mismanagement, and lack of will that is currently in place in most of Jamaica's children's homes, and often manifest by the relevant authorities at the Ministry of Health, needs to be replaced by a system of integrity, accountability, and effectiveness.
Local pressure for reform has resulted in half-hearted attempts by a reluctant government to silence the public's cries. No criminal charges have been brought against alleged perpetrators nor have any abused or mistreated children been provided adequate therapeutic treatment. Moreover, the Jamaican government has yet to implement a comprehensive programme to improve the system as recommended by UNICEF, UNHCR, and local NGOs.
What is at stake here is the lives, future and well being of our children. For us as adults to remain silent, or to attempt to silence those who come forward with such information is to be complicit with those who violate the bodies and minds and lives of the children within the care of the State. It is, as the Minister has said, to leave children to be brutalised. It is what has been happening to far too many children within the care of, or under the supervision of, the State.
The issuing of yet more reports, while the recommendations of previous reports have yet to be implemented, and the making of speeches, will not solve the problem. It will not rescue the children who are in immediate danger; it will not heal those whose lives have been deeply scarred. Only action will do this.
