Letter of the Day | Addressing child sexual abuse

THE EDITOR, Madam:

We are writing in response to the letter to the editor by Amanda Quest, published The Gleaner on October 10.

Quest asked, “What strategies, if any, actually exist to ensure that our nation’s children receive proactive protection from sexual abuse of any kind?” In addition, the letter spoke to the need of “a proactive approach that seeks to prevent rather than merely respond to incidents of child sexual abuse, since no parent – no matter how amazing, attentive, and involved – will truly be able to monitor their child/children all day, every day.”

We would like to highlight the ongoing work done by None in Three (Ni3) Research Centre Jamaica, which is based at the University of Technology, Jamaica.

Between 2017 and 2021 the centre conducted extensive research on child sexual abuse (CSA). Our name, None in Three, reflects unacceptable statistics reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), which states that one in every three women or girls will experience some type of violence in her lifetime. We aim to reduce this number to “none in three”. While the statistics highlight women and girls, it is important to note that our research includes males and females, as CSA affects both sexes.

A key objective of our research, which included a survey of over 7000 youths and interviews with adult survivors of CSA was to develop a pro-social video game. The game, Gabrielle (Gabby), which is grounded in pro-social theory, is designed to raise awareness on the impact of CSA, challenge harmful attitudes, and foster empathy towards victims of CSA.

The goal for this gaming intervention is to be integrated in schools, colleges, and youth offenders’ institutions as an educational tool to confront societal attitudes towards CSA. By fostering empathy and raising awareness, we hope to influence cultural, social, religious and other attitudes towards CSA, that contribute to perpetuation of this problem in our country.

We are currently testing the game as an educational tool, with the hope that it will serve as a co-curricular intervention.

In addition to our game development efforts, we have also drafted a policy brief on CSA in Jamaica as part of our government engagement strategy, which was shared with relevant ministries. Some of our publications can be found at: https://www.noneinthree.org/jamaica/resources/.

We recognise that CSA is a pervasive problem in Jamaica that is shaped by social, cultural and economic factors. Understanding and addressing these issues will require high quality integrative research approaches. We believe that education, along with innovative tools like gaming interventions, such as Gabby, can be an effective tool in the fight against CSA given its potential to engage children as active participants, helping them to understand the process and seriousness of CSA.

The Ni3 focus is on the protection of children. We will continue to do our part to contribute to the fight against CSA in Jamaica.

CHRISTINE FRAY

KENISHA NELSON