CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
PROTECTING CHILDRENS’ RIGHTS IN JAMAICA An urge for a paradigm shift and a beckoning for community participation in the protection of children from abuse.
Hon. Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams
is a Minister of State in Jamaica and an accomplished Attorneyat-Law. Called to the Jamaican Bar in 1981 and the Ontario Bar in 1985, she is a committed defender and human rights specialist successfully practicing in Ontario and at tribunals on immigration, human rights and criminal law. She has a passion for social justice, particularly foryoung people. The Minister has successfully implemented projects foryouth education and employment especially within her constituency of West Central St. James, Montego Bay.
It appears that the silence is breaking in Jamaica over the reporting of sexual abuse as we witness an increase of the total number of reported sexual abuse cases in 2013. The Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR) statistics indicate a 23% increase of reported cases from the previous year. The majority of the victims in these cases were girls, though the number of boy victims has been increasing in recent years. Over half of the cases were deemed as carnal abuse (sex with a child under 16 years old), while the remaining cases were concluded as rapes, fondling, incest and oral sex. Amongst the devastating consequences of childhood sexual abuse are sexually transmitted infections and diseases, teenage pregnancy, interrupted education and psychological impairment. Many female victims have difficulty trusting males and engage in risky behaviours that put them at further risk of abuse and contracting sexually transmitted infections. Reports of instances of child neglect are also on the rise, with over 5,000 cases reported to the OCR in 2013. Child neglect exposes children to unusual and unnecessary danger and has undeniably contributed to the missing children dilemma. The
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data suggests that there ought to be a link between child abuse and missing children. Between January and April of 2014, 656 children were reported missing, 415 of which returned home and two of which were found dead. Research on the topic also suggests that the lack of parental supervision, care and discipline that defines child neglect is also correlated with human trafficking. Despite the alarming reality, we have embarked on a mission to attack the issues head on. Though Jamaica has a long way to go, our legislation, policy objectives and programmes reflect major strides in tackling these issues and fulfilling our international treaty obligations. The Jamaican government is undoubtedly dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights, especially the rights of the child. In 1991, the Government ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Significantly, the CRC was the subject matter of our most recent participation in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process which took place this year. Our consistent participation in the UPR process is only one of the ways in which we have attempted to adhere to our tripartite objective to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of
the child under the CRC. In relation to child abuse, neglect, maltreatment and exploitation, our respect is shown through the range of legislation we have implemented to facilitate the provision, protection and participation rights outlined in the CRC. One of our foundational legislative instruments is the Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA), 2004. It facilitates the establishment of specialized agencies and offices to increase protection, provision of care and participation of children. The present Act emphasizes the responsibility of parents and guardians to care and protect
“Despite the alarming reality, we have embarked on a mission to attack the issues head on. The Jamaican government is undoubtedly dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights, especially the rights of the child.”
children; but also recognizes xxxxxx the mandatory responsibility of all persons to report incidents of children in need of care and protection by imposing ‘a duty on any person who knows or suspects that a child is, has been or is likely to be abused, neglected or in need of care and protection.’ to report it to the OCR. Importantly, note that there is a higher standard of proof for certain named professionals who work with children because they are deemed to have knowledge or suspicion that a child is in need of care and protection, based on their access to certain information for example teachers and doctors. The CCPA also identifies a range of offences: the maximum sentence for child neglect is three years and the more grievous the abuse the higher the sentence. The CCPA imposes sanctions such as a $1 million fine as well as a business closure order for the hiring of a child in a night-club and condemns child trafficking with a fine and/or imprisonment
of up to 10 years. Despite the broad range of protection that the CCPA offers, there are plans to expand the scope of the Act. Firstly, as emphatically indicated by Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, the government intends to create a new offence of parental neglect such that a parent ‘whose child is found in circumstances consistent with inadequate parental care and attention’ (which includes children found unsupervised on the streets or other public places late at night, or a child, found living with an adult where the arrangement exposes the child to the risk of sexual or other abuse) will be charged and prosecuted. Secondly, there are plans to increase reporting obligations by expanding the number of agencies to which reports of child abuse can be made. Moreover, the CCPA’s provisions are reinforced by the Sexual Offences Act (SOA), The Offences Against the Person Act (OAPA), The Trafficking in Persons (Prevention,
Suppression and Punishment) Act, The Child Pornography (Prevention) Act (CPPA) and The Cyber Crimes Act. The SOA, for example, provides penalties for the abduction, unlawful detention of a child for sexual purposes, sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16, sexual grooming of a child, sexual touching or interfering with a child; and procuring a child to become a prostitute, either in or outside of Jamaica, or to become an inmate in a house of prostitution. It also criminalizes the act of incest with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The OAPA assigns a maximum sentence of 3 years imprisonment for child abandonment or exposure of child under 2 years of age, whose life or health has been or likely to be permanently injured and punishes child stealing, kidnapping, aggravated assault on a child, concealing the birth of a child and infanticide. Additionally, Cabinet approved the Minister of Justice, Mark
Golding’s plan to ‘prescribe harsher penalties for persons who murder, rape or commit other serious violent offences against children and for these cases to be given priority treatment in the trial list, with respect to scheduling and disposal.’ We have also adopted the Child Pornography (Prevention) Act (CPPA) 2009 prohibiting the production, distribution, importation, exportation or possession of or profiting from child pornography, and employing or using children to produce pornographic material. Additionally, the Cyber Crimes Act (CCA) 2010 complements the CPPA by protecting children from cybercrimes such as sexting and textopornographie. Here, we reinforced the legislation with the ratification of United Nations (UN) Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography on 26 August 2011. Our laws are not only geared towards combating sexual abuse
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