In the period of observing the 16 days of activism, many civil society organizations and government agencies engaged in public education activities to raise awareness of gender-based violence and child abuse. During this period of heightened awareness, a number of cases of child abuse and abuse of women were reported but the case being highlighted here in this piece, is that of the teenage girl who was arrested and taken into police custody during the period of the 16 Days of Activism. The arrest resulted from the search of her home which uncovered various quantities of an illegal substance. Although there are various issues around the incident, it is of pertinent importance the efforts of the Acting Chief Justice in resolving the matter in a manner that reflected the understanding of how delicate the matter is.

“It takes a community to raise a child.” Some argue that Guyanese society has drifted away from this belief. However, ChildLinK’s partnership with the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) has dedicated teams who have focused their efforts to secure Guyanese children’s safety and development within family-based care.  As a result of such continuous concerted efforts, almost 100 children have been reintegrated back to their families from orphanages. The reintegration of children back to a family setting has continued to be successful over the past three years.  This collaboration between the CPA, ChildLinK’s development partner, the Delegation of the European Union to Guyana has had the privilege and esteemed opportunity to play a significant role and impact children and parents’ lives positively and in particular during the global pandemic. Children are indeed our future.

“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.” – George Santayana. Though the make-up of individual families may differ from case to case, many aspects actually remain the same. Especially in the instance of the amount of love, attention, and support that children should be receiving regardless of where they live or spend most of their time. In institutional care, there have been many reported cases and admissions that the children do not receive anywhere near the right amount of affection, love or support. Considering that the children heavily outnumber the institutional caregivers, it will be virtually impossible for the caregivers to stretch themselves so thin while attending to each child. It is known that each child requires his/her own levels of attention and socialization, having to cater to these for one child is quite demanding, much less 20 children at a time. We must applaud the caseworkers and institutional caregivers as they, every day, put themselves forward and take on the tasks that many persons would not be able to maintain.
The caseworkers do work around the clock to ensure that children, regardless of where they are, receive love, affection and care that they require. Though there are many instances where a child remains in institutional care, we do have many positive instances where children are actually reintegrated into their biological homes.

The story about the sixteen-year-old teen who was brutally stabbed to death by a thirty-four-year-old was one of the most shocking stories in the past week. While there are many questions that would have arose from the situation, the underlying issue of the protection of this young girl is another matter that connects to the story, and the rest of Guyana at large, signaling a deficit in the policies made, the services offered and the communities’ willingness and knowledge on reporting violence against children in our land.

LOCAL child rights organisation, ChildLinK Guyana, on April 16, launched a localized Blue Umbrella Day (BUD) as part of its two-year public education campaign focussing on the care and protection of boys.
The BUD campaign has been initiated by Family for Every Child (a global network) and launched in several member countries including India, Philippines and Paraguay. It is aimed at raising awareness on how to better care for boys and protect them from sexual violence.
The findings from the Caring for Boys research conducted by Family For Every Child indicated that “sexual violence affecting boys remains largely unknown, unacknowledged and not responded to, across a wide range of contexts and cultures, mostly as a result of gendered social norms, which influence perceptions of boys’ vulnerability. These also pose an obstacle to disclosure by boys, identification and acceptance by others, recognition of harm caused, and recognition of the support needed to recover”.
Sexual violence against boys is often an unexplored issue, resulting in lack of awareness and support for those who are survivors of abuse. Given the urgent need for focussed care for boys, ChildLinK incorporated BUD into its existing One Thousand Boys (OTB) initiative.

The pandemic has brought an abundance of challenges along with it and that fact is not debatable. From worldwide chaos in the form of fear of the spread of the disease to the negative impacts on workplaces, sleep patterns and bank accounts, the coronavirus is the thing that many of us never thought would happen but came along and brought our worst, unknown fears to life. In response to the pandemic, the option of online learning was concocted as a valuable method to curb any issues relating to children and their schooling. Despite how you may feel about online learning, the system is the very best since it keeps you and your family safe, and makes certain that your children do not fall behind in their classes. The parents’ role is of paramount importance in this new process and while the schooling may be for your children, this is also an opportunity for you to learn new skills that can assist you even after the children have returned to school.

With many children now out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) have been steadily climbing. Unfortunately, this is not surprising. Over the years, reports have consistently shown increased rates of CSA during periods such as August and Christmas holidays when more children are at home.

Despite the prevalence of sexual abuse within our society, it is still a topic that many continue to shy away from. This reluctance to discuss sexual abuse is incredibly harmful, as it helps to maintain a lot of misinformation, stereotypes and victim blaming towards survivors. As a result, many persons who suspect or become aware of those who are being sexually abused do not know how to adequately address it. Often, this leads to them saying or doing the wrong thing. Talking openly about abuse will not only make the topic less taboo, but will also equip more persons with accurate ways in which to respond to cases of violence, particularly if it is a child who is being sexually abused. 

AS advocates working in the human rights sector, something that often comes up in our work is the concept of toxic masculinity. While the term is often thrown around, not many understand what it means, and how it continues to impact vulnerable populations such as women and children.

DESPITE worldwide estimations that one in six boys are affected by sexual violence before they are 18, very little evidence is available. As collaborating agencies working in childcare and protection, ChildLinK and Blossom Inc. have, over the past five years, noticed an increase in reports from boys who have been sexually abused. This observation is also supported by the Child Protection Agency reports. The increase in reported cases is a positive as underreporting has long been an issue of concern. However, the increase in reporting also expounds on the fact that there is an urgent need for evidence-based campaigns that focuses on the care of boys.

The Coronavirus pandemic continues to bring new challenges with every passing day and even though there have been solutions to many of the issues related to the pandemic, some problems are still unresolved. The fact that some issues have been resolved, however, should not distract us from the fact that even solutions have problems attached to them and online learning, (while solving the issue of crowded classrooms and protecting our young ones), has created issues for many students and teachers alike.

As the year draws to a close, it is necessary for us to take time out to reflect on our successes. Parents, teachers, guardians and caretakers at all levels have continuously supported and protected the nation’s children in spite of the ongoing struggle with the Coronavirus. While our frontline workers continue to toil tirelessly in order to ensure our overall safety, the many parents, caregivers and teachers who defend the future of our nation on a daily basis are still locked in and focused as ever.

According to Article 3 of the UN Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children, “The family is the best place for a child and all efforts should be made to enable children to grow up and remain within family-based care.”  While children are better off at home, it is also concerning that many cases of child abuse, including neglect occurs at home.  ChildLinK’s 2016 position paper, An Analysis of the Nature and Extent of Institutionalization of Children in Guyana, posited that boys who were placed in institutional care were more likely than girls to be placed there for physical abuse.