Breaking the silence

Children who have been sexually abused in Trinidad & Tobago are very likely to be neglected by service providers.
Dr Sandra Reid spoke about her team's research "Child Sexual Abuse,, Incest and HIV : the perspective of service providers in Trinidad & Tobago" at the poster exhibition at AIDS 2010. This research is one of very few presented on the provision of services to children who have been sexually abused.
Dr Reid said that the findings revealed that service providers, including social workers were reluctant to intervene in cases of child sexual abuse because they felt powerless  due to lack of knowledge, and mechanisms to provide protection for the children.

The study found that there were no policies for HIV testing and that 50% of the service providers  did in fact recommend HIV testing at their own discretion.
She said she was excited to see that there was a similar research project being done in another country. This research will continue into developing a community based model for child protection.

This research was conducted by UWI, IGDS with the Trinidad & Tobago Coalition against Domestic Violence. The funding was provided by UNIFEM and UNICEF.