by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
“Embrace, be amazed by God’s great gift of children…Children are a gift. Do you understand? Children are a gift! Each is unique and each is unrepeatable; and yet unmistakably tied to his or her roots… A child is a child: a life created by us but destined for him, for his good, the good of the family, society, humanity…In the soul of every child, no matter how vulnerable, God puts the seal of this love, which is the basis of his or her personal dignity, a dignity that nothing and no one can destroy…We must know how to recognise a child’s worth…let us thank God for the gift of children” (Pope Francis)
Do we recognise the worth, the inherent dignity of our children? The nation was horrified by the recent news that a 14-month-old baby girl was sexually abused, allegedly by the 20-year-old boyfriend of the child’s mother. Both he and a 48-year-old man are being questioned by the police after the child’s grandmother noticed, while bathing the child, redness and swelling near the child’s private part. She reported her observations.
In a statement, The Children’s Authority said it was “horrified by the recent media report of the abuse of a baby girl and it is a reminder that there is an acute and disturbing problem of child cruelty in Trinidad and Tobago…Since child abuse often occurs in the home, it is important for everyone to be aware that they have a responsibility to protect children. Also today, the Authority’s Emergency Response Team was called out to rescue two other children who were sexually abused. The children are now in the care of the Authority and receiving the necessary support.
“The Authority notes that by becoming aware of the signs of child abuse, we can protect our children from continued mistreatment.”
The Authority is urging the public to report any signs or suspicions of child abuse to the Police or to the Authority’s hotlines at 996 or 800-2014. You can also ring ChildLine on 800- 4321.
The Office of the Prime Minister issued a media release on Jan. 21 stating that the PM is “saddened” by reports concerning the safety of T&T’s children. Inter alia, Dr Rowley said: “We have seen over the past few days issues of suicide, teenage pregnancy, child sexual abuse, teenage prostitution and the death of a child due to drowning…As a people, we see our children as the cornerstone of our great nation, and recognise that acts of abuse and neglect are symptoms of a wider problem plaguing our society. Child abuse and neglect are not acceptable. Silence only results in the festering of harmful thoughts and practices that negatively affect our children. We must talk about it…report it…break the silence.”
He calls on all citizens to combat child abuse. (See: “Breaking the Silence: A Multi-Sectoral Approach to Preventing and Addressing Child Sexual Abuse in Trinidad and Tobago” http://sta.uwi.edu/igds/breakthesilence/). We all have to play our part if we are to end all forms of child abuse.
Recently, my colleague on the Equal Opportunity Tribunal, Harridath Maharaj, who is also a pundit and former Commissioner of Transport, and I were discussing the love for children that is promoted by the various religious communities in T&T.
He says that in Hinduism children are also seen as “gifts” as they could be ancestors coming into families through the cycle of reincarnation/rebirth. He said that two of Vishnu’s incarnations, Rama and Krishna, were born as children to show humankind how to live from childhood to adulthood.
During the Year of Mercy, let’s address the following question adapted from Russell Shaw’s book, American Church: “What kind of Trinidadians and Tobagonians do we want to be in T&T – assimilated creatures of the secular culture, or people of faith who seek…an identity grounded in the gospel, leading us to distinguish carefully between what’s acceptable and good in secular culture and what expresses secularist values in conflict with our faith?”
After the rape and murder of six-year-old Keyana Cumberbatch in Maloney in Nov. 2013, CCSJ issued a media release outlining six steps to be taken to address the issue of child abuse in T&T – see: http://rcsocialjusticett.org/2.0/2013/11/30/ccsj-calls-on-all-citizens-to-stand-up-for-the-rights-of-the-nations-children/
I end with a quotation from this release: “The basic moral test of any society is how it treats its most vulnerable members, among whom are our children…We have a duty to promote the human rights and the dignity of our children and create conditions and safe environments that will enable them to realise their potential. Society cannot turn a blind eye to the heinous crimes that are being committed against the nation’s vulnerable children.”
