CJ: Children are victims and perpetrators
Tuesday, March 12 2013
CHILDREN
are direct and indirect victims as well as perpetrators of violence,
Chief Justice Ivor Archie declared yesterday at a Violence Against
Children conference at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain, warning that
if the trend is left uncorrected, the future of the country would be
bleak.
Archie also warned that the
“devastating and long-term” impact of violence against children should
not be underestimated as any form of violence can undermine a child’s
development. “WHO (World Health Organisation) analysis also concludes
that all violence against children, especially child maltreatment
occurring in the first decade of life, is both a problem in itself and a
major risk factor for other forms of violence and health problems
throughout a person’s life,” Archie said, noting that depression,
alcohol and drug abuse, suicide attempts and post traumatic stress
disorders, are just some results. Archie stated that the country is in
the grip of unprecedented violence, but the fact that there was violence
in every country is not an excuse. He said the country continues to
wait until violence occurs before putting a plan in place but there is
evidence some types of violence are preventable.
He noted when the country’s first Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams said, “The future of our nation lies in our children’s book bags”, he did not mean as receptacles of weapons or pornography. Archie said the Family Court, the pilot Drug Treatment Court and the proposed Youth Court are ways in which the Judiciary is attempting to deal with some of these situations, by making the process more child-friendly and protecting the children of abuse from being further victimised by the stress of legal proceedings.
In the Family court, officers were encouraged to use less technical language and the courtrooms are more intimate. In the Drug Treatment and Youth Courts there would be special processes for children. For example, children would be insulated from harsh examination in court, they would not be openly accused of lying, the adjudicator would sentence a child in a way that would bring true reform. He said he believed some sentences were archaic, and would increase the likelihood of the child returning to criminal activity. Also speaking at the conference, attorney Dana Seetahal SC, opined that the police are not treating with the issue of child abuse appropriately and are taking the easy way out.
“Regrettably, in relation to some offences against children, they (the police) are proceeding under the Children Act when they should really go for the Offences Against the Person Act, where the penalties are a little more serious. At least the authorities should amend the Children Act, increase the penalties and also make special provisions for prosecution,” Seetahal suggested. Giving an example, she said in a case of a parent burning their children as a form of punishment, under the Children Act, there is a specific penalty of $400. However, under the Offences Against the Person Act, the penalty could be five to 15 years imprisonment.
She was also dismissive of the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago’s ability to effect change in its present state. “I haven’t heard anything effective coming from that Children’s Authority. We have the legislation and the (Children) Act says, under the Children’s Authority that a child would be a person under 18. No other piece of legislation defines that age. Nobody is making a move to proclaim the 2000 (amended) Children’s Act. I think the Children’s Authority, how they are operating right now, in my view, are a waste of time,” she stated. (See Page 17A)
Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,174688.html
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