By Sharee Theobalds on Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 at 07:31 PM

In hopes of raising awareness about child abuse and neglect, the Child Care Board (CCB) has launched a 30-day initiative to draw attention to the issues of under-reporting child abuse.

In light of the first-ever celebration of Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month in Barbados, the CCB is hoping to break the silence of child abuse under this year’s theme: "Speak up, Speak out, Report child abuse."

This month's theme was designed to draw attention to the issues and encourage individuals and organizations to play their part in making Barbados a safer place for children and families.

Speaking yesterday during the launch of the inaugural Child Abuse Awareness Month, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, stated that the government is working with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to create a legislative framework for mandatory reporting of child abuse. 

"I think this is where we have to go. This is a conversation that is now existing in draft between the chief parliamentary counsel and the Ministry. It is to make sure that we get to the point where reporting of child abuse is no longer optional," he said. 

Minister Humphrey also stated that he hopes the conversation his ministry is having with the public about child abuse becomes a part of the Child Prevention Act before the end of this year.

"The Child Justice Bill is also in the draft so that we have a more comprehensive understanding of child protection so that we take child protection seriously".

Senior Child Care Officer, Roxanne Sanderson, told The Wallpaper that the CCB has done several things to help raise awareness. 

She detailed: "We have done a number of PSA's [Public Service Announcements] where we educate the public. We also educate children. We have done a number of workshops and seminars with children in secondary and primary schools. In primary schools, we have a child abuse prevention program where police officers go in and talk about child abuse and bring awareness, so children are sensitized." 

Sanderson also made mentioned that the CCB is working with UNICEF to not only spread the word about child abuse but that they recently launched the MyChild Helpline App where a child can be able to report anything they want to report as it relates to child abuse or neglect. 

As the month continues, Sanderson is encouraging people to wear electric blue every Friday in support of child abuse prevention and she also indicated that the CCB will be having a webinar on Friday, April 8th at 10 a.m. via Zoom under the theme “Neglect: beyond food, clothing, and shelter”.