Media urged to do specialized reporting of child protection matters

Joseph
Joseph says the media have an important role to play in the reporting of child abuse

Children’s Rights Advocate, Francis Joseph, has called on the media to begin specializing in the reporting of child protection matters.

According to him, the media have an important role to play in reporting on child abuse.

He made that remark at a press conference organized earlier this week, by the Executive of the Non- Governmental Organizations (NGO)’s Coalition for the Protection of Children and Youth, to raise awareness of child abuse in Dominica.

“We are asking from the media to begin to try to specialize in the work of child protection and to understand it and to have your media houses and workers to begin to specialize in the area of family matters, child protection and understanding the laws…,” Francis advised.

“The media can take it on board. They have been hearing us. Do a documentary; go out in the communities. Do you know what the Convention on the Rights of a child is? Educate them and put it in perspective what it is and they can be mandated to ask questions on the talk show programs now to understand what it is,” Joseph stated.

Joseph believes that parents should be educated on how to communicate and bond with children while they are young.

“Once you try addressing it that way, linking it with education and the importance of building our country they would begin to get the message. It has to go out,” he explained. “So the coverage has to be there.”

Francis further explained that in the court there is a lot of coverage after someone has been sentenced and usually the public becomes very much sensationalized in what’s happening, “but we want them informed so that they could put (it) into perspective as well.”

He believes that one should find out the reasons for abuse in homes.

“Some of the cause and effect has to do with poor communities, dysfunctional homes and poverty,” he stated.

He is recommending that perpetrators of child abuse, if they are captured, should be helped.

“Those perpetrators, they need help if we capture them. We have to also find counselling for them,” Francis stated.

He added, “find out why they do it; find out their history and let’s put it in perspective that the public can make informed decisions as to what is happening rather than speculating or being sensationalists.

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.

We will delete comments that:

  • contain any material which violates or infringes the rights of any person, are defamatory or harassing or are purely ad hominem attacks
  • a reasonable person would consider abusive or profane
  • contain material which violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law
  • promote prejudice or prejudicial hatred of any kind
  • refer to people arrested or charged with a crime as though they had been found guilty
  • contain links to "chain letters", pornographic or obscene movies or graphic images
  • are off-topic and/or excessively long

See our full comment/user policy/agreement.

8 Comments

  1. May 18, 2015

    Sadly the problem of sexual child abuse is universal so this applies to my own country as well. It is the roll of the media to get the crucial information out to the public.

    This is the only way communities can be warned if a sex offender is living in their neighborhood, or even next door to their home. When a man is convicted not only his name should be published, but his picture as well. People should be able to identify him if he is seen around a school yard, or hanging out in a park.

    We need the media to hold the police and courts responsible to do their jobs, and inform the public of the sentences. I have heard of too many case that have ended up on a desk or in a file, and have gone no further.

    Every sex abuse trial should be open to the media and attended by reporters. This is the only way to protect the public and hold the authorities accountable to the tax payers who pay their salaries.

    Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. International Evangelist.

    • Views Expressed
      May 18, 2015

      Thank You Rev. Hill….you`re right on Q….

    • Independent Observer
      May 19, 2015

      In Dominica sexual predators hardly lurk around school yards or parks but are more often found in and around the victims’ homes. In most cases the perpetrators are well known to the victim and his/her family.
      Many times cases do not go further really has nothing to do with the perpetrator but with the victim’s or his/her family’s willingness to pursue the case. If there is no accuser then no case can really be heard. The issue of the media is a more complex issue than it appears on the surface. The victim (who are oftentimes minors) must be protected and therefore we should tread carefully when we advocate the use of video recordings by media etc for such matters.
      Dominicans are mostly a reactive people instead of a proactive one. It is important to carefully think through the issues and recommendations including potential repercussions b/c when policies/practices are institutionalized it is hard to makes changes. The best practices of other countries can be reviewed for…

      • May 19, 2015

        Independent Observer:

        Your point is :?:

        Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. International Evangelist.

  2. Views Expressed
    May 18, 2015

    Telemaque, I think you got this wrong. You and I live in a metropolitan counties where the press is independent, proactive and do discoveries, documentaries and investigative matters of concerns to the public where the these governments do not. They are independent proactive and blow the whistle.
    We hear the press in these countries USA, Canada etc, reveal abuse cases after investigative work discovers who abuse who way back when. In Dominica I gather the call is that our media wake up and engage also in investigative journalism. The only person I know engaged in this now is Lennox Linton, all credit to him, but it is done only re governance and government matters. We need investigative reporting done also on social and welfare issues where there is rampant abuse.
    The story above in right on Q, and relevant.

    • Francisco Telemaque
      May 18, 2015

      I agree in a sense, but children are abused every day in Dominica, and unless somebody report a credible story to the media, there is nothing to investigate. Right now in Dominica a culprit rapes a child the media cannot mention the culprits name until (if the criminal) is convicted.

      And even when they are convicted, after they spend a few days in jail they are let out to go to live right next to the victim. In the United States, before they are released from jail the State informs the victims. And they are not allowed to live in any populated area, next to schools and children

      They also have to register as a sex offender which becomes public record. If I want to know if there is a rapist living in my neighborhood, there is a record I can check. I do not believe there is much the media in Dominica can do. Just as how some people do not appreciate Lennox efforts, I doubt they will appreciate the media efforts either.

      • May 19, 2015

        Francisco:

        You have lived in Dominica and now live in the States. This means you can compare Dominican
        law with American law.

        I have never been to Dominica and live in Canada. The little I know about Dominica and its laws is what I have learned from the internet and mainly from DNO. I can make some comparisons but It may not be fair to do that.

        However from your well written comments and those of others in Dominica and the Diaspora it is obvious many Dominicans feel the laws of Dominica pertaining to certain crimes are somewhat flawed and in need of an overhaul.

        There seems to be a strong feeling on the part of many that:

        (1) Existing laws should be reviewed. Perhaps the age of consent should be raised.

        (2) Some new laws need to be added. Perhaps there should be a law making the reporting of sexual child abuse mandatory with a significant penalty for not doing so.

        (3) Sentences for sexual child abuse convictions should be revised.

        Sincerely, Rev. Donald…

  3. Francisco Telemaque
    May 17, 2015

    “According to him, the media have an important role to play in reporting on child abuse.”

    All of you ignorant Dominicans who want to be important try to get your faces in some media everyday talking something which makes no sense! I suppose you are insinuating that the news media, be it DNO or other must dedicate a special column dealing with child abuse.

    In that case every parent who’s child may suffer abuse even at the hands of the parent should report it to DNO! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!

    Child abuse must be reported to the “police” the perpetrator of the crime should be charged if there is evidence to substantiate a crime was committed: the police should inform the public of such crimes via the media.

    That’s how it works; now if the media (reporter) witness the abuse it is okay to write, or broadcast it in the media!

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

:) :-D :wink: :( 8-O :lol: :-| :cry: 8) :-? :-P :-x :?: :oops: :twisted: :mrgreen: more »

 characters available