charles.kongsoo@guardian.co.tt
Child rights activist and gender specialist Marcus Kissoon says the culture of safeguarding and protecting children should take prominence over the licensing of homes and shelters.
He was speaking to Guardian Media over the weekend about several unlicensed children’s homes illegally operating as they had not met the Government’s March 31 compliance deadline.
Kissoon said, “Licensing has masked the major issue of the culture of safeguarding children that have failed to be incorporated in shelters and homes.
“The issue isn’t about licensing, it’s a secondary issue, my experience of being on the (Judith Jones) investigation committee bore this out also.
“As much as I do believe that licensing has a place and it tells us a kind of story and narrative around how the State invests in these children; its low hanging fruit.
“We have a failure when it comes to safeguarding children and the culture around thinking about their safety.”
He said licensing was a good invitation into the State’s investment in the infrastructural safety of children.
Kissoon said that it showed people a little of how they were starting to think about children’s safety and protection through the idea of licensing.
He noted the fact that it was still in the hands of authorities such as the T&T Fire Service and OSHA, adding this allowed people to understand things being done when it came to infrastructure.
However, Kissoon said the (Judith Jones) report highlighted a sort of systematic and cultural abuse and violence that these children faced at the hands of adults.
He added that roofs falling on children occurred less than security guards abusing children, staff ill-treating children, and social care misplacing children and poorly identifying their needs.
Kissoon said as much as he appreciated having safe roofs, exits and infrastructure, there was a need to address the culture of safeguarding the children in the state’s care.
He said the investigation came about when five boys absconded from a children’s centre and two of them were shot dead in Laventille.
According to Kissoon, boys indicated that they were going through different forms of abuse, whether it be from homophobia, physical violence and possibly sexual abuse as well perpetrated by people with the duty of caring for them.
He said he wanted to see dialogue translate into action about a culture of safeguarding and protecting children and the State and society to think about these children as their own.