Nurses March on Saturday to Raise Awareness about Violence against Children

Members of the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) will take to the streets of Kingston on Saturday (February 17) to raise awareness about violence against children and mobilise citizens in ending the scourge.

The march will be led by the 2023 LASCO/Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) Nurse of the Year, Shantal Remekie, as part of her national project ‘Stop Violence Against Children’.

“We need it to stop. So, we want to let people know that this is something that is affecting our youth, it is affecting our nation and it is our business, and I believe that I have a part to play,” Nurse Remekie told JIS News.

She is inviting concerned persons to join in the march from the NAJ Secretariat at 4 Trevennion Park Road, Cross Roads, to the Secret Gardens Monument in downtown Kingston, which honours children who have died under violent circumstances.

It will begin at 7:00 a.m.

At Secret Gardens, roses will be laid for children who have died and to serve as a symbol of hope for the future.

There will also be a sensitisation session where representatives of various institutions will inform the public of ways to protect children and where families can access help.

“I want to use this initiative to push awareness and hope that it will be effective. A lot of persons are not sure what violence against children is. So, if you are able to educate them, they will be more aware,” Nurse Remekie said.

She noted that violence against children takes many forms, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and can include bullying, neglect, or depriving children of education, shelter, and clothing.

These abuses, she noted, can “result in societal issues, where they [children] are unable to communicate, where they develop low self-esteem, which affects the adults that they become. If we can start at an early stage, then I believe we will evoke some amount of change,” Nurse Remekie said.