by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
Today, Divine Mercy Sunday, let us commit to be missionaries of Christ’s mercy, to be exemplary witnesses to Christ by playing our part in building the civilisation of love.
Let us show the “doubting Thomases” in our country that Christ is alive and wants to fashion His people to live holy, virtuous lives. The challenge for us is to fulfil our Christian obligation to lead others to holiness by the way in which we live our lives.
On April 16, I watched the proceedings of the Joint Select Committee’s (JSC) meeting on the Social Services and Public Administration inquiry into the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and the state’s capacity to minimise the occurrence of teenage pregnancy and provide services and assistance to teenage parents.
Statistics shared at the JSC hearing show that over the past five years, there have been 3,777 cases of teenage pregnancies, with an average of 62 teenagers getting pregnant every month. Of the reported 1,395 pregnancies were cases of statutory rape involving adult men between the ages of 20 and 30 years impregnating minors.
Do we know how many of these pregnant teens gave birth to their babies and how they and their children are faring?
JSC Chairman, Senator Paul Richards, stated that the numbers were higher, as they did not account for unreported cases. Do we know how many of these pregnant teens gave birth to their babies and how they and their children are faring? How many had miscarriages or were coerced to have illegal abortions?
A Newsday editorial reported: “The figures alone make plain the State’s convoluted child welfare system is not working as it should. There are 28 separate agencies tasked, one way or another, with protecting minors. Yet, as noted by Independent Senator Paul Richards on Wednesday, there is no real evidence of an effective plan or strategy. Instead of efficient coordination, these entities seem like silos. Our children are going around in circles…the State needs to stop demurring. Stop talking and start implementing the policy, regulations, laws that have been so painstakingly enacted and even litigated in court.”
As missionaries of mercy, we must protect the life of the unborn and help these teenagers to have their babies. Facilities such as Mary Care Centre and Goshen House, run by Eternal Light Community, are sanctuaries for young pregnant women who need assistance.
However, we also have an obligation to raise the awareness of our youth, both male and female, and their parents, of the dignity of the human person and work to change the hearts and minds of the perpetrators who violate the dignity of our young women.
Do we have data from research to determine whether the increase in teenage pregnancy is linked to certain risk factors, e.g., poverty/social exclusion; moral relativism; lack of education about God’s design for human sexuality and in forming relationships; inadequate parenting; dysfunctional home backgrounds; truancy; suspension/expulsion from school; underperformance at school; low self-esteem; as well as ineffective intervention strategies? I urge schools and parishes to reach out to those in need.
Journalist Anna Ramdass reported that “Jacinta Bailey-Sobers, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Social Development, provided data which showed in 2011 the total number of people under the age of 18 in the country was 351,622. She said according to a global school-based health survey conducted by the Ministry of Health on adolescents between the ages of 11 and 18, 26 per cent of pupils were sexually active; 13.2 per cent of them have had sexual intercourse before the age of 13; and 17.6 per cent of pupils had sexual intercourse with multiple partners…
“Additionally, she said research conducted by The UWI Faculty of Medical Sciences indicated that by age 19, more than 1,000 young women had already given birth to four children… Asked how many men had been prosecuted for having sex with underage girls, director of the Children’s Authority Safiyah Noel said they did not have the information, but the authority works closely with the police. She said in many cases the perpetrators are protected by teenage mothers who remain tight-lipped.”
Effective co-ordination of intervention strategies must be multi-disciplinary. We ignore this challenge at our peril.
