Proposed amendments to the Children Law will make it an offence not to report cases of child abuse.
Department of Children and Family Services Director Deanna Look Loy said her department has requested a mandatory reporting regime be included in the amendments.
Although it will affect teachers and healthcare workers most, Mrs. Look Loy said the law will apply to anyone that works with children.
She has not received any reports of child abuse being ignored, but the amendments will help her department assist abused children, Mrs. Look Loy said.
‘The department needs to know the extent of this kind of thing because we need to address this as a country,’ she said.
‘It’s important from the department’s perspective to address the issues with the children so they can become functional citizens.
‘A lot of people who are dragged into this may go on to commit crimes or become promiscuous; it can lead to a fall out.’
It is not clear when the new amendments will be introduced.
Mrs. Look Loy said the amendments will also give authorities the power to make parents attend parenting training and education in certain circumstances.
As it stands, the Children Law does not legally oblige teachers and healthcare workers to report instances of child abuse.
However all schools have policies in place that instruct teachers about what to do if they are concerned for the welfare of a child.
The DCFS is in the process of standardising the policy for reporting child abuse across public and private schools.
It has also produced a handbook that will tell teachers how to look out for signs of sexual abuse.
Carol Graham, a community outreach coordinator with the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, said mandatory reporting is an important weapon for fighting child abuse – particularly sexual abuse.
‘Those that don’t report child abuse are effectively in collusion with it,’ she said.
‘Mandatory reporting needs to be enacted. Accountability for preventing child sexual abuse needs to sit squarely on the shoulders of adults.
‘You can’t expect young children to protect themselves from perpetrators.
‘The secrecy of child sexual abuse is what allows it to go on – families hide it and it takes a lot of courage to come forward and protect kids.’
Studies suggest one in four girls and one in six boys is the victims of sexual abuse at some point in their childhood.
However, according to some studies, only 10 per cent of children report their abuse.
Mrs. Graham said the prevalence of child sexual abuse is no different in Cayman.
Mrs. Look Loy
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