Santo Domingo.- The Dominican chapter of the global organization World Vision recently published the study “Evaluation of child protection services and attention to violations of children’s rights in the area of incidence of World Vision Dominican Republic area programs.”
The field work revealed that 22.8% of the families of victims of sexual abuse or violence reach a negotiation with the aggressor.
Likewise, in the study important gaps are observed, such as insecurity when acting against the various situations of vulnerability of children by families and members of the community.
Likewise, the levels of cover-up and complicity on the part of the affected families are striking: “An 11-year-old girl was abused, and they gave her 80 thousand pesos, and the mother remained silent,” said one of the respondents in the community. from Hainan.
This occurs in weak circles of care, as reflected in the survey, where 23.3% of the actors interviewed think that families do not report because of “shame”.
In another order, another of the findings reflected that in several of the municipalities studied there is a lack of compliance with the principles of confidentiality and anonymity of the complaint processes by the acting authority, which shows the lack of guarantee in the management and protection of the information provided by the complainants.
“This puts at risk not only the person who reports, but also the children and adolescents who have gone through a process of abuse,” explained Johnny Bidó, manager of advocacy and external relations of the organization.
In this sense, the research involved analyzing the state of efficiency, effectiveness and timeliness of protection services in the provinces of San Cristóbal, Santo Domingo, Dajabón, Monte Cristi and El Seibo, in the municipalities of impact of humanitarian assistance that has a presence World Vision.
Likewise, it describes the conditions of child protection services and restitution of rights in the municipalities of interest, analyzing the incidence of child labor problems, street children, school desertion, and children and adolescents without civil registration.
In that order, a total of 353 people participated in the investigation, a total of 105 children and adolescents, in addition to 248 adults. Of these, 14% belong to Dajabón, 11% to Villa Vásquez, 9% to Los Alcarrizos, 11% to El Seibo, 1% to Monte Cristi, 12% to Miches, 10% to Haina and 11% to Castanets. Communities that still face significant challenges in terms of protecting the most vulnerable children.
Faced with this worrying scenario, World Vision Dominican Republic, as an organization focused on children, has focused its work on providing support and guidance to children and adolescents in vulnerable conditions, their families and communities, so that they can exercise their rights, are lovingly nurtured and protected from violence, sexual abuse, and exploitation through various programs that promote child protection, develop community leadership skills, form protection networks, and train families on child protection. children and the prevention of all forms of violence.
