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NOC caregivers allegedly fondles 16-year-old
-APNU proposes Corps be placed under wings of a capable Ministry
“Even as we protest and say to caregivers not to touch us ‘there’, they still place their hand in your vagina and claim it is a body search. I have been badly beaten on my head, face, back and also on my parts.”
This is an extract from a letter by a 16-year-old female who recently escaped from the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) in Essequibo, Region Two. In the letter, she claimed that she was physically and sexually abused by the male staffers at N.O.C.
Opposition Leader, David Granger
Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, has since called on the parents to ensure that an official report of the matter be made.
However, reiterating the call for a Commission of Inquiry into the matter yesterday was the A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) spokesman on Culture, Youth and Sport in the National Assembly, Christopher Jones.
Jones read the extract of the letter, a copy of which was secured by this publication which contained graphic details of the teen’s encounter with NOC staff who she alleges abused her at the correctional facility.
At its weekly press conference which was held at the APNU’s Headquarters on Hadfield Street, Party Leader Brig. David Granger said that his party has no confidence in the capability of the Ministry of Culture, to administer the New Opportunity Corps.
The Member of Parliament then re-issued the Coalition’s call for an independent commission of inquiry to be convened to investigate the entire administration, organization and management of the Corps.
Granger proposed that the responsibility of the Corps be transferred to another Ministry or agency that possesses the requisite personnel and skills and is better prepared to tend to the lives of juveniles sympathetically.
He stressed, “It is evident that a new approach and a new agency are needed to curb the perpetuation of abuses and interpersonal violence which are still occurring in the Corps.
“APNU is concerned that the worst incident of violence in the entire history of the Corps occurred in August 2012 and involved about one-third of the juveniles in the Corps… the Minster however, has been unable to present the report of the Commission of Inquiry to the National Assembly after over twenty months.
The absence of the report clearly has resulted in the Ministry’s inability to comprehend the problem and to prevent the recurrence of abuses similar to those that are alleged to have triggered the August 2012 events. The last escape occurred between March 22 and March 24, this year. It involved 11 juveniles.”
Granger said that APNU has been disturbed, particularly by the new reports of sexual harassment and exploitation of juvenile girls by male staff members and older males.
APNU said it is also concerned with the criminalization of juveniles by subjecting them to arrest, detention and prosecution by the Guyana Police Force in the criminal justice system.
APNU Member of Parliament, Christopher Jones, expressed his disgust at the fact that the Ministry and the NOC said that the 16-year-old’s letter is “nothing” since girls of the Corps regularly write such letters.
Granger added that most of the juveniles at the Corps are at the age where they are supposed to be in school and he is concerned about their academic development. The Opposition leader stressed that there are about 153 students at the centre and there is a need for the construction of a sympathetic structure so that the students can feel safe.
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, he opined, can do a better job as those at the Ministry of Culture lack the empathy and skills required to deal with such sensitive matters.
When asked whether he believes the Guyana Police Force should be very much involved in the issue, Brig Granger said that he would hesitate for such to happen. He asserted that the police lack the level of training to deal with such a matter. Given the age of children it should be dealt with by the relevant and capable ministry.
He said that the letter from the 16-year-old is one that should not be taken lightly.
He called on the Government to act immediately to implement measures to prevent exploitation from recurring.
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