KINGSTON, 14 November 2024 – Jamaica now has new data on the context, magnitude, and impact of violence on children and youth. The Jamaica Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) 2023, launched on November 14 and officially handed over to the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information and the Planning Institute of Jamaica, is a nationally representative household survey that measures physical, emotional and sexual violence in children ages 13 to 24.
“The findings are concerning,” said Representative, UNICEF Jamaica, Olga Isaza. “The report is an urgent call for Jamaica to invest more to prevent violence against children and youth. This groundbreaking report sheds light on a harsh reality. Violence in families and communities is widespread, and children and youth are bearing the brunt of it. The wealth of data provided by this survey can guide prevention and response interventions that are grounded in the national context and are actionable,” Ms Isaza added.
The VACS report, which also captured information about risk and protective factors, shows that violence against children and youth is common with more than three out of every four children and youth experiencing violence in their lifetime. It also found that children and youth who experienced violence, have higher risks of health and social problems such as chronic disease, mental health issues, substance abuse and violence perpetration later in life.
“The fact that children and adolescents in Jamaica are heavily exposed to violence on a daily basis is intolerable,” said Ms Isaza, “and it generates severe problems for families, communities and the country as a whole. There is an urgent need to prevent violence and respond to this child rights violation and major obstacle to child development with evidence-based interventions.”
The findings show that sexual violence in childhood is common and that girls are more vulnerable. Almost one in four females or 23.7% and over one in ten males or 11.7% experienced sexual violence in childhood. Additionally, males and females experienced similar rates of physical violence in childhood with 31.9% of females and 34.4% of males reporting that they experienced physical violence in childhood. Emotional violence from peers, among children, was also cited with nearly one in three females and one in five males experiencing emotional violence by a peer in childhood.
With respect to violence in communities, the report showed that this is prevalent. Children and youth are often exposed to severe physical violence in their communities, including the murder of someone close, carrying and using weapons, and witnessing physical violence in their homes, schools and neighborhoods.
After the data were collected, the stakeholders met to review evidence-based solutions. The key areas covered in the recommendations outlined in the accompanying Data to Action Framework, are to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of laws, including those that ban corporal punishment in all settings; review norms and values to develop social and behavioral interventions to counter the normalization of violence in homes and communities; create safe family, school and community spaces; expand parent and caregiver support; improve response and support services; and strengthen education and life skills.
Last week, Jamaica made a commitment at a global forum to develop three actions as offshoots from the recommendations: Implementing a child protection early warning system; Expanding violence prevention programmes in schools; Implementing a strategy to protect children online. The plan of actions was outlined in a pledge tabled at the First Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children in Bogota, Colombia held on November 7 and 8.
“These actions are essential but not sufficient and UNICEF urges decision makers and other stakeholders to use the VACS 2023 report and the corresponding Data to Action Framework as a catalyst for urgent action. We know the scale of the problem. We know the severity of its impact. Now we must scale up the political will and investment to respond to and dramatically drive down childhood violence,” Ms Isaza said.
In this the 35 th year of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF is reminding stakeholders to keep their promise to children to uphold the rights of every child by acting in their best interest and protecting them from violence.
The alliance among the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the University of the West Indies, and UNICEF made this first-time implementation of the survey possible as well as the data to action process. “Working together, we are more robust, and we advance better,” Ms Isaza added.
Media Contact
Donna-Marie Rowe - Communication Specialist, UNICEF Jamaica - dwallacerowe@unicef.org; 876-279-8339
About UNICEF Jamaica
UNICEF Jamaica supports government and non-governmental partners to promote and fulfill the rights of children, especially the most disadvantaged. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For information about UNICEF and its work, visit www.unicef.org/jamaica.
About the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS)
The Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) are led by national governments, with technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of the Together for Girls (TfG) partnership, with support from various partners such as UNICEF, PEPFAR, USAID, and the Government of Canada.