‘Statistics ignore sad plight of children’

THE newly-released crime statistics fail to clarify the high levels of violence and sexual abuse committed against children.

“That’s what these statistics don’t tell us about. It’s a huge concern: the under-reporting,” remarks Dr Shahieda Omar, the clinical director of the Teddy Bear Clinic for abused children. “They don’t tell us about the high levels of violence and sexual abuse that our children are exposed to.

“Several studies have shown how one in three children are victims of abuse. But children are less likely to report their abuse to those in positions of power, such as the police, because of fears of reprisal.

“Often, their cases are not taken seriously, and the children are ridiculed, humiliated and shamed at the station level.”

One of the biggest problems is that the Sexual Offences category is so broad, spanning sexual assault, rape, statutory rape and the sexual grooming of children, among other offences.

The latest statistics indicate a 3.2 percent decrease in sexual offences for the period 2015/2016.

“If we don’t have the information, it’s something we cannot measure, so how can we manage it effectively?

“Children’s statistics are not being captured and reflected. Children do not come forward because they are fearful of secondary victimisation by the systems that are supposed to protect them.”

Nor is the decrease in these offences anything to celebrate, says Omar. “What we’re seeing is definitely an inaccurate reflection of what is going on on the ground.

“They are projecting a small reduction in sexual offences as a positive outcome, when in fact it’s not a success, but a failure because of the (inadequacy of the) reporting structures.”

“Police go to crime scenes and put children in the same vehicle as the alleged perpetrator… it destroys the child.

“We’ve had cases in which police go to the scene and do quick snapshots and say that there is no DNA evidence.

“Then, 10 days later, they go back to the child or family and look for the same DNA evidence, which has disappeared. We have many of these cases on record.”