Felicia Browne
(SNO) — President of Caribbean Mentorship Insititute, Felicia Browne, is expressing grave concerns over reports of the attempted abduction of a child in Ciceron, Castries.
She said protection and safety are critical towards a child’s development.
“Children have the right to live free from violence and the fear of living in violence,” she said.
Reports are that a masked man attempted to kidnap a nine-year-old boy on January 15, but quick action by him averted what could have been a serious crime.
The Caribbean Mentorship Institute describes child abduction as “the offense of wrongfully removing or wrongfully retaining, detaining or concealing a child or baby. Abduction is defined as taking away a person by persuasion, by fraud, or by open force or violence. There are two types of child abduction: parental child abduction and abduction by a stranger”.
The organization said children are being trafficked and abducted across the Caribbean region, in particular, Latin America, “and we as a society should take every potential child abduction or trafficking attempt very seriously”.
“This includes that we should have effective mechanisms in place to manage such child protection violations,” Browne said.
She added that children should be educated about their rights, with the assistance of the Ministry of Education and youth organisations, and to invest time to educate children about such rights.
“Children’s rights should be included as part of our education curriculum,” she stated.
Browne said the government has a responsibility to ensure that it promotes and implements the Convention on the Rights of Children into its local policies.
This would include Article 11 and 35 which states that:
Article 11 (Kidnapping): Governments should take steps to stop children being taken out of their own country illegally. This article is particularly concerned with parental abductions. The Convention’s Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography has a provision that concerns abduction for financial gain.
Article 35 (Abduction, sale and trafficking): The government should take all measures possible to make sure that children are not abducted, sold or trafficked. This provision in the Convention is augmented by the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
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