By Sue-Ann Wayow
IT’S unfortunate that sexual abuse and other heinous crimes are still being committed against children.
And child abuse should not be taken lightly.
This according to Moderator of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Trinidad and Tobago (PCTT) Reverend Joy Abdul-Mohan in her message for World Children’s Day 2021.
The PCTT will host its first virtual National Rally on Saturday as it joins the world in observing World Children’s Day 2021 which was first established in 1954 to promote international awareness among the most vulnerable and to improve children’s welfare.
Abdul-Mohan said, “Significantly, since 1990, World Children’s Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the United Nations General Assembly adopted both the Declaration (1959) and the Convention (1989) on children’s rights. Sadly, we continue to witness a disgusting trend of sexual abuse and heinous acts of violence perpetrated against innocent children in our society. It is a trend that pains all of us and one that needs to be reversed urgently.”
She said with the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, it seems as though the approach to dealing with the problem was not concise.
Acknowledging that policies and mechanisms to offer justice and a safer environment for children have been implemented and with several groups focusing on the problem, she questioned then why the problem continued to be magnanimous.
Abdul-Mohan said, “The statistics show that there is a breach in the armoury. The Child Protection Unit revealed there were 1,800 child sex abuse reported within 21 months. Each month the Children’s Authority receives an average of 353 complaints of child abuse. A child’s entire future can be destroyed because of one loathsome incident which has the effect of seriously damaging or even ruining a young life and taking away the innocence of a child.”
Protecting children and giving them every opportunity to grow and reach their full potential without the burden or emotional and physical trauma and abuse, should be the concern of every citizen, especially the Church and religious bodies she stated.
“We cannot take the issue of child abuse lightly simply because they will be tomorrow’s adults and leaders. We must do all we can at every level of the society to protect our children. We must not only raise awareness but provide training and build communities around the empowerment of children as part of prevention,” she said.
Using Jesus Christ as an example, Abdul-Mohan said his earthly parents protected him when King Herod was attempting to kill him and citizens were being called to bring the “Herods” of the 21st Century to justice.
She said World Children’s Day offers the opportunity, to promote and celebrate children’s rights, to reimage and build a better future for children, to deepen care for the most vulnerable and to do what was just and necessary for the fulfilment and preservation of the life of all children.
“We are called to go beyond the pew and pulpit to change the heart of an unscrupulous society that has stolen the innocence and bright future of the ‘gems of our nation and world’,” Abdul-Mohan said.
