Children’s organizations lead widespread condemnation

Margaret Nicholas

The rape of the seventeen-month-old baby girl has sparked outrage across the country and the National Committee for Families and Children (N.C.F.C.) joined the UNICEF AND B.F.L.A. in condemning this brutal attack on the toddler. The N.C.F.C. says that it, “condemns all sexual explicit acts, especially of this atrocious nature, which continue to breakdown our societal structure and rob our children of their future.” Today we spoke with the Executive Director of the N.C.D.C. Margaret Nicholas who says that this incident must not just be another story about assault on a child. The E.D. says that it highlights the fact that our children are still vulnerable and more needs to be done to ensure that these heinous crimes do not happen

Margaret Nicholas, Executive Director, NCFC

“We are really and truly concerned about the state of affairs of our children. When we hear of such an unthinkable incident, it really and truly tears at the core of your heart because you hear of all kinds of molestation against children and violence but to think that anybody would think molesting a 17-month-old child is unthinkable. It is outrageous and we just recently launched some PSAs to discuss this whole problem of sexual offences against our children and I think what really and truly cuts at the heart is that it is just at the start of Child Stimulation Month that this occurred. So, it really and truly speaks to us trying to step up our efforts more to inform the public, to encourage our partners to try even harder to end violence against children. We also probably have to look more closely at the whole issue of counseling. We have to try to get into the minds of some of the perpetrators. When you think of some of the things happening to children, we have to try and figure out why and how you can even think of doing such things to a small child – a child who can’t even talk. So, for me, it is our laws. It is using our laws. It is ensuring that we have the necessary resources to properly investigate, to get swift results, to help us to get convictions and to ensure that we get into the minds of people and even to parents. I think all of this begins at home and as parents, we have to start to take into account who we are leaving our children with. A lot of time things happen and then they are short lived. We have short memory. So, it is a matter of championing it; ensuring that it stays on the back burner and that this prefaces anything else that we need to do to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again. And, again, it is collective responsibility and championing it has to be the way forward.”