Jamaica’s first child-friendly centre, which will assist youngsters who are victims of human trafficking and other serious crimes, was officially opened at the Falmouth police station in Trelawny on Friday, March 4.
The facility was jointly established by the Ministry of National Security and the US Embassy in Kingston under the US-Jamaica Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership.
A child-friendly centre or space is an environment designed to help children who are victims of crime to feel safe, calm, and comfortable while interacting with professionals, including law enforcement officers, social workers, healthcare professionals and prosecutors.
The state-of-the-art facility will serve as a first stop for these youngsters to be examined, interviewed, and referred for appropriate care and other services.
It boasts a child-friendly office area, medical examination facilities and an interview room.
Speaking at the official opening ceremony, Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security, Zavia Mayne, said with 28 suspected cases of child trafficking reported in 2021 and the rescuing of four children from sexual exploitation, the Government, in tandem with its partners, has implemented special measures “to ensure appropriate and tailored support and care [for]… victims”.
He explained that the facility in Falmouth is one such initiative, which will provide comprehensive services for child trafficking victims.
“The child-friendly space is an essential component to holistic, victim-centred and trauma-informed care for survivors of human trafficking in a number of ways. It provides a safe, calm and reassuring physical space that is important, and it provides a space that allows a child who is a victim to feel safe, away from the perpetrator [who], in many instances, is known to them,” Mayne said.
He also underscored the Government’s commitment to effectively investigate, prosecute, and convict human traffickers, while providing comprehensive, informed trauma care for child trafficking victims.
Meanwhile, Counsellor for Economic and Political Affairs at the Embassy, Alex Sokoloff, said the facility will serve as a long-standing resource for Trelawny to help support children who are victims of trafficking and other serious crimes.
“Today’s opening of Jamaica’s first child-friendly space, and I hope that there’ll be many more, is a testament to our government’s continued dedication to combat child trafficking. The space itself is a culmination of two years of work by a [number] of stakeholders under the US-Jamaica CPC partnership,” he said.
Head of the Trelawny Police Division, Superintendent Carlos Russell expressed gratitude for the novel facility, noting that the officers will ensure that children who are referred “are given the best treatment”.
The US-Jamaica Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership is a multi-year plan, jointly developed by the Governments of Jamaica and the US.
It represents an investment of nearly US$6.7 million to help fight child trafficking in Jamaica. The shared goal of the partnership is to build on Jamaica’s current efforts to prosecute and punish perpetrators of child trafficking, identify victims, strengthen the provision of comprehensive protective services, and prevent reoccurrence of the heinous crime.
