The Family and Life Commission of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) hosted a Virtus Coordinators Meeting, June 25.
Present were Pat Neal, Director of the US-based Virtus Protecting God’s Children (PGC) programme and representatives from the eight arch/dioceses of Bridgetown, Castries, Georgetown, Kingston, Mandeville, Nassau, Port of Spain, and St John’s-Basseterre. Fifteen persons were present.
The aim of this discussion was to provide facts and context on the prevalence of child abuse in the Caribbean region and the role the Virtus Protecting God’s Children programme could play in reducing it, with a focus on making the programme more relevant and accessible.
The Archdiocese of Port of Spain’s Tricia Syms, member of the AEC Laity and Family Life Commission welcomed everyone to the meeting on behalf of Bishop Robert Llanos of St John’s-Basseterre, chair of the Commission. She also facilitated the meeting.
A report from the meeting stated that the coordinators’ noted perpetrators are often known to the child and gain their trust through grooming.
The team highlighted cultural norms that contribute to a lack of boundaries and the ease with which offenders can gain access to children.
Concerns were raised about the underreporting of abuse cases, with the team acknowledging that the reported cases only represent a fraction of the actual cases.
The prevalence and impact of child abuse and neglect in the Caribbean region and concerns about the long-term effects of abuse on children and the need to address perpetrators, even when they are family members or other children were discussed.
Emphasis was placed on the need for greater awareness and involvement in the fight against child abuse, particularly in rural areas where cultural acceptance of abuse is high.
“The team agreed on the necessity of providing sufficient resources to tackle this issue, including appropriate counselling for victims and prevention strategies. The societal and individual brokenness that contribute to issues such as child abuse, poverty, and addiction were emphasised and the need for greater evangelisation, proactive measures to reduce abuse, and strengthening legal frameworks for child protection,” the report highlighted.
The discussion also touched on the accessibility and implementation of the Virtus Online platform for dioceses across various locations, with a focus on providing facilitator refresher training and expanding the programme, hands-on resource for teen volunteers and creating a PDF booklet to introduce the programme to under 18s.
Coming out of the meeting, Syms was to meet with representatives from St Lucia, Guyana, and Barbados to start the process of implementing the Virtus programme in their dioceses.
Establishing a WhatsApp group or an email thread to facilitate communication and share information about the programme was considered.
