At least 1, 400 men and women in Anguilla, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis were interviewed as part of the study. *Photo credit: www.jedrzejko.eu

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC - A new study commissioned by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has uncovered evidence of emerging trends of child sex abuse linked to the internet and the tourism industry in the Eastern Caribbean.

The study, carried out over the past year by a group of Caribbean experts, found that the incidence of child abuse in the region is escalating and warns of an alarming picture of severe social spin-offs.

The 400 page report released here on Monday has listed cell phone pornography and Internet abuse as well as child sex tourism involving organized networks to cruise ships.

“These seem to be two new forms of destructive sexual exploitations that have emerged and are in our midst. Specific examples were given of organized network to cruise ships and boys in many cases were the target” said Ena Trotman Jemmott, one of the lead researchers.

“The scale of the problem seems to be great, extensive and escalating. Respondents presented an alarming picture of a social problem that has severe consequences,” said Jemmott, a consultant with the United Kingdom based group Action for Children.

At least 1, 400 men and women in Anguilla, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis were interviewed as part of the study.

Described as the first comprehensive study of child sex abuse in the region, researchers used various scientific methods including community survey, focused groups as well as interviews with professionals and policy makers.

“Coming out of this study when we take it back to each and every country we would expect that the country will develop a national plan of action,” said Heather Stewart, Child Protection Specialist at the Bridgetown-based UNICEF office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

Stewart headed a UNICEF delegation which presented the report to the Grenada government.

UNICEF also announced that it has approved the appointment of an employee in the Ministry of Social Development who will spearhead improvements in Grenada’s child laws.

“The Minister of Social Development requested UNICEF help in improving the legislative framework for child protection in Grenada,” Stewart told a news conference.

“He has asked that someone is appointed within his Ministry charged with that responsibility. We have approved it. We are working on the exact terms of reference. That’s one concrete example.”

The UNICEF team, which also includes Professor Adele Jones, Director of Center for Applied Childhood Studies University of Hudderfield in Britain, has also scheduled visits to the other five Eastern Caribbean Islands where the studies were conducted.

The UNICEF report is recommending measures to reduce child sex abuse in the region including a regional plan for building abuse free childhoods, reframing child sexual abuse at the policy level as a public health issue, adopting child centred budgeting as well as the introduction of child sensitive justice systems.