Amid growing concerns over the increase in cases of incest among children, specifically in the parish of Trelawny, Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison says her team is now looking to craft a collaborative effort to deal with the situation.

“It is something that has not escaped our attention particularly because a number of the cases seem to stem from either two or three specific districts within the parish, so it is something we are very much aware of and something that we are thinking about how best to craft a collaborative strategy to see if we can treat with the issue,” she said in an interview with Our Today.

The Trelawny Police Division reported that there has been a 100 per cent increase in incest cases in the parish.

According to the Jamaica Constabulary Force data, since the start of the year, the parish has seen a notable increase in rape cases where 12 cases were recorded up to August 12. This is compared to 10 cases this time last year, which calculates to a 20 per cent increase in rape cases for the parish.

Notably, the children’s advocate told Our Today that her office has also seen an increase in reports of child abuse, which she attributed to greater public awareness.

“The numbers [reports of child abuse] have increased since we have exited the COVID era when children were out of school and at home and so on. So, there are increases and I think that these increases are due not only to perhaps increased instances, but also heightened awareness among the members of the public who see it as their duty to come forward and give information so that proactive steps can be taken to interrupt circumstances that are not appropriate,” she said.

The Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA) launched its SafeSpot helpline in 2021 for children and teenagers to receive counselling and other support services.

“The Office of the Children’s Advocate, through its child and teen helpline which gets children directly communicating with the OCA about issues that impact them, showed that there are some parishes that feature very highly. St Catherine, for example, is one and also Portland. Portland is very interesting because we find that the number of reports or issues that impact children relate to boys, which, actually, is quite unusual because usually it is the girls that self-report or self-disclose that issues are impacting them but in Portland, it is the boys who are reaching out when compared to the girls,” she revealed.

Among the issues reported through the SafeSpot helpline are feelings of emotional distress, feelings of insecurity, family issues and mental health.

With the new school year just weeks away, the children’s advocate also shared that she is anticipating an increase in the number of reported cases of child abuse when students transition back to the classroom.

“Usually there is a spike with the new school year and with guidance counsellors, for example, getting back in touch with students physically, we would not be surprised if we saw an increase in the reports,” Gordon Harrison said.