BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large helpsh@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, February 16, 2014
A boy aged 15 has given a mind-boggling version of his experiences while living at places of safety from where he absconded more than 50 times in the last six years.
His decision to be consistently on the move is due to the many times that he said he was raped by other boys at the institutions, beaten by them, and being verbally abused also by boys and workers.
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| The boy shows a scar on his back which he said resulted from being cut by another boy in a place of safety. (then) Another scar on the young boy’s left hand. |
“Me start run weh from me a eight because them rape me off. Is nine homes me run from. Me no wait too long fi run way,” he told the Sunday Observer.
Born in Tivoli Gardens, West Kingston, the young man is one of 16 children for his parents, including nine by his mother. He became a ward of the State from age two, as his mother, with whom he lived at the time, was unable to care for him. His father lived elsewhere. “Mi run weh from the nine homes over 50 times since 2008.
“Sometimes when mi report abuse, the police seh a dat mi fi get. Police no care ’bout me,” he said. He told the Sunday Observer that he has lived at places of safety in the parishes of Kingston & St Andrew, Manchester, St Catherine, Portland, and Clarendon.
The Child Development Agency (CDA), in a response, issued a statement to the Sunday Observer saying that it feared for the child and his safety. “The agency has been deeply concerned for the welfare of the ward in question who has repeatedly absconded from a number of child care facilities as well as while in the care of his family,” the CDA said.
“His frequent absconding continues to expose him to abuse and the risk of serious injury. Each time the ward is picked up by the police after running away from the child care facility and his family, he has reported to the social workers and caregivers that he has been abused by adult males while on the streets,” the CDA went on. more
“Sometimes when mi report abuse, the police seh a dat mi fi get. Police no care ’bout me,” he said. He told the Sunday Observer that he has lived at places of safety in the parishes of Kingston & St Andrew, Manchester, St Catherine, Portland, and Clarendon.
The Child Development Agency (CDA), in a response, issued a statement to the Sunday Observer saying that it feared for the child and his safety. “The agency has been deeply concerned for the welfare of the ward in question who has repeatedly absconded from a number of child care facilities as well as while in the care of his family,” the CDA said.
“His frequent absconding continues to expose him to abuse and the risk of serious injury. Each time the ward is picked up by the police after running away from the child care facility and his family, he has reported to the social workers and caregivers that he has been abused by adult males while on the streets,” the CDA went on. more
Wow that's a very sad story, who is going to protect those children, its a shame that child have to go through all of that abuse.
ReplyDeleteThat's a big question. Who will? Can the Govt. of JA do it? Looks hopeless.
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