Child-safeguarding referrals continued an upward trend, crossing the 1,400 mark for 2021, almost 300 reports more than the previous year’s total of 1,146, and the highest since these statistics started being collected in 2017.
While that increase can be seen as a worrying sign, the people fighting child abuse in the community say it can also be considered a positive step in addressing the issue, as more victims are coming forward to seek help.
Speaking on last Wednesday’s episode of the Cayman Compass talkshow The Resh Hour, Detective Superintendent Peter Lansdown said that the 2021 statistics are being finalised for release with overall crime data for the year.
However, he pointed out that the numbers available so far do show a continued upward trend.
“Yes, it has gone up every year, year-on-year which, in a lot of respects, it is a positive. It means that people have got the confidence to come forward and report it. It means that people are more aware and obviously we have introduced mandatory reporting… so certainly government agencies, health, social services have to report their suspicions around child abuse,” Lansdown said.
MASH safeguarding stats
2017 – 491
2018 – 747
2019 – 1,036
2020 – 1,146
2021 – 1,400+
He added, though, that when it comes to dealing with child abuse it is a multi-agency effort that also needs community support.
“We cannot do this alone, we have to partner with other agencies,” he said.
He said there are more avenues to report incidents, which also offer greater opportunity for those who may have concerns to have them investigated.
“Everybody is becoming more aware and we are slowly breaking the taboo… we have to talk about this to deal with it. We have to know what is going on and people are slowly becoming more confident to tell us about these incidents,” he added.
This month the Cayman Islands Red Cross marked the 10th anniversary of its Protection Starts Here project which is specifically aimed at addressing what has often been a ‘hidden problem’ in the community.
Reporting is not only up to police
Red Cross deputy director Carolina Ferreira, speaking in the show via Zoom, said the mandatory training and reporting required by schools should also be extended to youth-service organisations and camps.
The Red Cross, she said, has been working on the whole aspect of awareness, what constitutes abuse, recognising the indicators and actually getting people to understand that mandatory reports do “not just apply to police officers, doctors and school teachers, but also volunteers who are working youth servicing organisations that have a duty of care to a child”.
When broken down, the statistics, she said, still show a majority of reporting coming in from the police followed by the Department of Children and Family Services.
“That shows there is still a lot of work to be done in some of the other sectors including amongst youth-serving organisations, amongst health, even amongst private schools specifically for us to see people really grasping that,” she said.
Lansdown and Ferreira both agreed the previous partnership and the frequent meetings between Red Cross and the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), when it came to child safeguarding, has not been as consistent or active as in previous years.
However, Lansdown committed to change that and renew that partnership and engagement with the local charity.
Ferreira said a number of activities to raise awareness and engage with the public are planned over the coming weeks to mark the Protection Starts Here anniversary.
She also encouraged members of the public and organisations to make use of the free Darkness to Light Stewards of Children training at the Red Cross.
Confidential reports can be made by calling 911 or visiting the MASH office in Anderson Square, George Town.
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