GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):Government officials here say they are troubled by a survey which has revealed that parents are the main perpetrators of physical and sexual violence in Guyanese homes.
The government/United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) survey found that fathers and stepfathers were the most common perpetrators of sexual violence in local homes while mothers and other females were largely behind the physical abuse cases.
The survey said girls were twice as likely to be raped at home than boys, with 10 per cent girls and five per cent boys being sexually abused.
A senior Human Services and Social Security Ministry official said the revelations were troubling.
"We are very concerned about the apparent child abuse and we seriously want to tackle it," Ann Green, chief probation officer, said.
National consensus
Green called for national backing to help root out the scourge afflicting the nation's vulnerable population.
"We want to get the public at large aware that they have a responsibility to protect a child," Green noted.
Added to sexual exploitation suffered by children, the survey also revealed that physical abuse was another major problem in the country as 33 per cent of Guyanese children were mistreated by adults who should be their guardians and protectors.
The study concluded that the majority of physical abuse perpetuated against children in homes actually occurred as a result of beatings or other physical punish-ments administered as discipline, especially by their mothers.
It blamed the violence on alcoholism, financial pressure, and infidelity by a parent.
Of the children who reported being physically hurt, 16 per cent had been hurt by their mothers; seven per cent by their fathers; two per cent by both parents; five per cent by related caregivers (aunts, uncles, grand-parents); and three per cent by step-parents.
Officials said with sexual and physical violence increasingly characterising Guyanese homes, more children were seeking refuge on the streets, with the number of male street urchins rising by 50 per cent, according to the most recent figures.
