Africa-Press – Seychelles. One hundred and nineteen (119) confirmed sexual abuse cases against children were recorded for the year 2021, according to the Social Affairs department.
For the first quarter of this year, thirty-five (35) confirmed sexual abuse cases have already been registered.
The figures, from the department’s annual report, were presented at a press conference yesterday at the International Conference Centre by the Minister responsible for Social Affairs, Patricia Francourt, and the principal secretary for Social Affairs, Linda William-Melanie and the director for Social Affairs, Beryl Laboudallon.
It followed a similar presentation to the cabinet of ministers last week to highlight the work of the department, the statistics and the various challenges the country faces, as the cases continue to rise from child abuse to other family conflict.
The annual report highlights the number of cases reported by each section of the department, namely Community Social Work, Legal Services and Child Protection Unit, which deals mostly with abuse, residential services and Night Shelter.
When presenting the statistics, Mrs William-Melanie said the situation was alarming and continued to deteriorate with the Legal Services and Child Protection Unit recording a total number of 337 sexual abuse cases last year.
“We feel it is alarming because we have 119 sexual abuse cases against children and 79 are physical abuse cases, where children are assaulted and where we feel there should be an intervention,” said PS William-Melanie.
The department is also concerned with figures for the first quarter of the year. From January to March, 2022, the Child Protection Unit recorded 103 new cases compared to same period last year, when it stood at 57. This shows an increase of 46 cases.
35 out of these cases were confirmed child sexual abuse cases and 24 were physical abuse, where children were assaulted.
The same unit also handled 292 referral cases from the Family Tribunal last year. According to the principal secretary, these were mostly cases where parents had separated and were either requesting custody, access or maintenance.
“This again is an indication of how the family structure is in the country,” she said.
For its part, the Community Social Work section recorded a total of 644 cases in 2021. The main ones were family conflict, spousal conflict and neglect of children.
The section recorded a total of 298 new cases for the first quarter of 2022. The highest form was ‘Neglect’ with 26 cases.
The Social Affairs department has also categorised the caseload per district based on the level of risk, namely low, medium and high. In 2021, Cascade was the district with the most number of cases at 55, out of which six (6) were high risk, 39 were medium risk and 10 were low risk.
English River was the district with the second highest number of cases at 43, followed by Roche Caiman with 40. Both had 3 cases considered to be of high risk.
PS William-Melanie said the high number of cases is putting a lot of pressure on their workforce. The Social Affairs department has around a hundred staff, out of which three quarters are social workers, based in the twenty-six districts. According to the department, each social worker is handling between 50 and 60 cases on average.
For her part, the Minister for Employment and Social Affairs, Patricia Francourt, said the figures from last year’s annual report and the first quarter of 2022, were met with disbelief and sadness at last week’s cabinet meeting.
“It was highlighted that the situation was like a ticking time-bomb, and if we do not do anything now, we will face more difficulties in the long run,” she said.
Minister Francourt said she stressed on the fact that the figures should be every ministry’s business as it would have an impact on their work. It was therefore primordial they work in partnership.
However, she said the country needed to go to the source of the problem, which is the family unit.
“There are plenty of reasons but as a person who has worked with so many children, I can confirm that the family unit has failed. Things that we take for granted, such as family values, like respect, boundaries, how to make good choices are overlooked. These should be nurtured at home and re-instill into our children,” said Minister Francourt.
She called on parents to be more vigilant, responsible parents, make time for their children and keep them safe.
“We need to re-visit within our family unit, and remember that when you give birth to a child you have to take the responsibility that comes with it,” she added.
The department is also calling on the communities to create child-friendly environment to deter drug abuse, delinquency and other anti-social behaviour.
Mrs William-Melanie said in their presentation to the cabinet, the department has also pointed out the need to have an integrated approach in their intervention that will improve the services they offer.
“One of the recommendations is to have a one-stop intervention centre where we can work closely with the police so that when cases are reported, be it child abuse or family violence, we can respond better and faster,” said Mrs William-Melanie.
The department added that it also wants to work closely with the ministries of Education and of the Family to improve their data collection.
PS William-Melanie also added that the new statistics are enabling the department to make informed decision for their strategic plan later this year, as it shows concrete evidence of the situation in the country.
Meanwhile the Social Affairs department is also reminding children that they can report any form of abuse on the Helpline 166, which is a free service.
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