Whipped worthless - UNICEF study shows that poor, rural and inner-city boys subjected to violent physical, verbal abuse

Erica Virtue, Senior Gleaner Writer

At least 85 per cent of children in rural and inner-city communities across Jamaica have reportedly been subjected to physical abuse by adults in the name of discipline.

The majority of these children are boys, who are often battered by parents and other adults. Even babies between two and four years old are not spared.

"To be boy, poor and living in rural Jamaica is a guarantee to be violently punished," declared Kenneth Russell, education specialist at the United Nation's Children Fund (UNICEF) office in Jamaica.

"And there are lots of similarities between the way children are punished in rural Jamaica and in inner cities."

Russell was expanding on the findings of a UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey conducted in Jamaica and several other countries.

The data shows that 84.5 per cent of children ages 2-14 years experienced some form of violent discipline, which included both psychological aggression and physical punishment.

Made public at the start of May, which is celebrated as Child Month, the study also shows that more than 84 per cent of the babies between two and four years old have been subjected to some form of physical discipline, with 78 per cent of them subjected to violent discipline.

POOR MOST VULNERABLE

While the practice is prevalent across all income brackets, children from poorer households were more likely to have experienced some form of violent discipline - 90.1 per cent of children in the poorest quintile, compared to 75.9 per cent in the richest quintile.

The study also found that while only 27 per cent of mothers/caretakers said they believe that children need to be physically punished, the percentage of children who were subjected to physical punishment more than doubled this rate (68.4 per cent).

This perception was more prevalent in the poorest households.

The study also found that the vast majority of respondents considered physical abuse as any action that results in wounding or obvious signs of physical harm to a child.

This was the position of 87 per cent of the sample, but 10 per cent defined it as an action that encompasses beating, pinching and any form of corporal punishment.

VICIOUS CYCLE

For
registrar of the Office of the Children's Registry (OCR), Greg Smith,
child abuse is a vicious cycle.

"Neglect, physical
and emotional abuse are the most common reports we receive. Neglect
takes many forms. Leaving children unattended, telling them expletives,
and calling them demeaning names are part of the cycle," said
Smith.

"Sometimes the abused and abusers are ignorant,
because for many parents and children, physical or emotional abuse is
expected because it's part of the culture. So brutalising a child, a
boy, for example, may not be considered abuse because that was how the
parents were raised and that is how they raise their children," added
Smith.

He said the OCR has received several
invitations to give talks for Child Month and it was hoped that more
effective public education would help with behaviour
change.

The Jamaican study, which was conducted in
2011, involved more than 6,000 participants and was done as part of
UNICEF's efforts to influence policies and effect behaviour
change.

A second study, which UNICEF dubbed the
Knowledge Attitudes and Practices, regarding child
maltreatment in Jamaica, provided more evidence of the brutality to
which the children are subjected.

That study,
conducted last year, showed that 30 per cent of children interviewed
were beaten with belts, sticks, brooms or iron
pipes.

Just under 30 per cent of the children said
they were beaten until bruised or cut. Sixteen per cent said they were
beaten by an adult; and 12 per cent said they were beaten without
cause.

UNICEF's findings support an informal study
conducted by The Sunday Gleaner in one Corporate Area
inner-city community, where the verbal or physical assault of young
children was observed in almost all households.

VERBAL
ABUSE

In one instance, a young mother used a
derogatory term for a female sex organ as she scolded her two-year-old
son. That was followed by a box to the face of the baby as the mother
shouted at him: "You is a fing fool 'cause yuh bawl, bawl like
gal."

In another instance, a relative screamed at a
16-month-old child and declared: "A gwine bruk yuh fing finger dem
'cause you love come inna mi place and move mi
tings."

Interactions such as these were not surprising
to Russell, who argued that Jamaican parents need to be exposed to
different methods of disciplining their children.

"We
want to help parents to use other forms of punishment, because only 10
per cent of those interviewed said they used non-violent punishment. We
want that to be much broader," said Russell.

He noted
that 28 per cent of parents believed children should be beaten, while a
vast majority said they beat their children because they do not know any
other form of punishment.

Baseline Survey:
Knowledge, Attitude & Practices Regarding Child Maltreatment in
Jamaica

Youth's interpretation of physical
abuse

• Being beaten with an object (stick, belt, iron
  pipe, broom, stone) 30%
• Being beaten until bruised or
  cut 28%
• Being hit by an adult 16%
• Being hit without a just cause 12%
• Being
  boxed, kicked, thumped, pinched, slapped
  7%

Nine per cent of respondents said
they did not know what was physical abuse of a
child.

• Gleaner-UNICEF
  Collaboration for Child Month

Throughout Child Month,
The Gleaner and UNICEF are taking you inside the
lives and challenges of children who are struggling with abuse and
exploitation. The facts and their stories are hard to forget. They
demand our attention and action as a nation. They call on us to learn
more and do more - to better understand the realities and to unite
around the solutions. All children, everywhere across our island,
deserve that.

Talk about the Child Month series
online:

Facebook: UNICEF Jamaica,
Jamaica Gleaner

Twitter:
@UNICEF_Jamaica, @jamaicagleaner