Youth Minister Condemns Attack on St. Mary Child

The Ministry of Youth and Culture has condemned the brutal rape and attack on a 15 year old St. Mary girl by her father, and is planning to conduct child abuse sensitization sessions in the community where the gruesome incident took place.

The sessions designed to educate residents about the signs of child abuse and how to prevent as well as report child abuse, will involve the Ministry of Youth and Culture agencies – the Office of the Children’s Registry and the Child Development Agency.

Meanwhile, Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna says the abuse of the nation’s children is destroying future generations and is a blot on the psyche of the entire nation.

According to the Minister, the harming of children and the violation of their right to protection and care should not be condoned by the society. She called on Jamaicans to send a strong signal that child abuse will not be tolerated in any shape or form.

Pointing out that one abused child is one too many, the Minister said parents need to create loving and kind environments that will allow for the safety and wholesome development of their children and not environments that foster fear, anger and hatred.

“Parents should be protectors not abusers. When you find that the place that should be safest for a child – the arms of their parents – becomes the scariest, the entire society is in trouble,” Minister Hanna said.

The Youth Minister is urging persons to be proactive in reporting suspected cases of child abuse pointing out that the prevention of child abuse should be everybody’s business.

Failure to report child abuse can result in person being charged and facing a fine of $500,000 or six months in prison as stipulated by the Child Care and Protection Act.