CONCERNED about the number of children who are victims of sex crimes and other abuses, the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) says it is planning to launch a massive education programme on forms of child abuse, procedures to follow when reporting abuse and the consequences of knowing of abuse and not reporting it.

“Our children are under abuse,” Inspector Dutress Foster-Gardner of CISOCA told the Observer.

“One of our main targets this year is to go out to the schools; we have to get to the children,” she said.

Last year, while the police reported that murders and other serious crimes were down, they reported an increase in carnal abuse – which is any sexual offence committed against children under the age of 16.

Foster-Gardner said the programme – the major part of which will be workshops in schools – is expected to start at the end of next month. It will target school children as well as parents, and will run for as long as is necessary, Foster-Gardner said.

Foster-Gardner said the aim is to conduct these workshops in one or two schools per week.

“We are going to target them [the schools] one by one until we complete the whole task,” Foster-Gardner said, pointing out that the aim is to go to all the schools in Kingston and St Andrew in the coming year and talk with the students as well as the Parent Teacher’s Associations.

“Sometimes the parents know what’s happening and they do nothing. we are going all out this year to sensitise parents, the general public, everybody about the Child Care and Protection Act.”

“It’s going to take a time, but we are going there,” Foster-Gardner said.

The Child Care and Protection Act of 2004 safeguards the rights of children and makes provisions for the prosecution of those who know of cases of child abuse and do nothing to stop it.