Press

Child Abuse Awareness Month
Stop the Violence Child Abuse Line

Child Abuse Awareness Month

April 25th, 2009
Speech by the Hon. Karen L. Delancy
Minister of Home Affairs and Human Services

Child Abuse is defined as any act to harm or to threaten harm to a child’s health or welfare which can occur through non-accidental physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or attempted sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or attempted sexual exploitation.

Make no mistake about it; Child Abuse is family abuse! Those who abuse children abuse other members of the family; abused children grow up to abuse their own family and, domestic violence, where there is a child or children in the family, is, and results in, abuse of the child.

Abused children tend to lack social, cognitive and physical development. How then can we expect them to grow up to be confident, mature, well-adjusted, contributing citizens?

The point I am making is that when we allow child abuse we condemn another generation to untold/un-necessary suffering. We believe that by bringing awareness to the serious consequences of abusing children we may deter some acts of child abuse. That is why I have joined this group to speak up against the evil of abuse in families.

Our Department of Social Development has been in the trenches, against child abuse, for a long time now. And I would not miss this opportunity to record my thanks to those officers who are working so hard - without resources and in imperfect conditions.

The Turks and Caicos owe you a great debt of gratitude! Thank you very much!

In October 2003 I served as Minister of Health, Social Services and Gender Affairs. We were invited to participate in an OECS project called The Family Law and Domestic Violence Reform from which the Turks and Caicos Islands became the Pilot Project. The Turks and Caicos Islands then joined the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to develop and harmonize modern family legislation. Resources, financial and expert, came from UNICEF, CIDA, and Caribbean Area Offices of National Children’s Home.

The project has been successful and yielded four pieces of model legislation namely:
Status of Children;
Child Care and Adoption;
Child Justice;
Domestic Violence.

The project fine tuned the models assuring that they were compliant with United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and with the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). We in the Turks and Caicos and the OECS accepted the four pieces of legislation and our Attorney General’s Chambers are now going through them for the purpose of Turks and Caicos-ization. I can’t wait to bring these bills before the House of Assembly!

These bills have been a long time coming but there is value in doing it right. The fact that the principles would be the same throughout the various countries in the region is a very positive thing. It makes it more difficult for child Abusers to escape prosecution.

Turks and Caicos we will have the legislation! What I ask for today is our commitment to, day by day, remain aware of, and stand against, Child Abuse in all its forms.

Thank you very much for your attention.