Homepage – Jamaica – None In Three

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is an extensive problem in the Caribbean.¹

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Major forms of CSA include intra-familial abuse (incest), abuse by non-family trusted adults and transactional sexual abuse.²

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The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) reported that in 2016, 255 children were victims of rape.⁴

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Growing CSA trends in the Caribbean include cyber abuse, child-targeted sex tourism, transactional sex between children and the over-sexualisation of children and its normalisation.²

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CSA is perpetuated not only by men but also by non-abusing adults through complicity, silence, denial and failure to take appropriate action. It is everyone’s problem and requires a systems ‘whole of society’ approach to tackle it.²

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In a self-report study among 3124 high school students (1467 boys and 1657 girls), 44.7% participants reported having witnessed violence in their homes.³

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Of all the accounts of child abuse reported to the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse (CISOCA) in 2016, 97.3% (1,094) were girls.⁴

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It is estimated that only 25% of incidents of sexual violence in Jamaica are reported.⁵

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About us

None in Three is delivered in Jamaica by the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica. Our research focus is child sexual abuse (CSA).

The GCRF-funded project is completed, but due to COVID-19, game trials in schools were not possible. We are now evaluating the game through our current SVRI-funded Play. Talk. Change. Project before making it and the curriculum/facilitator’s guide publicly available – watch this space.

Our goals

To understand the issue

Our research helps us to understand young people’s experience of child sexual abuse.

To develop an intervention

We have produced an authentic, interactive computer game, informed by our research, that can change attitudes and behaviours.

To have a lasting impact

We have worked with local and national organisations to influence policy and the curriculum. We hope our computer game and teaching materials will be widely adopted, enabling as many young people as possible to benefit from our research.

Our research

Why focus on child sexual abuse?

Sexual abuse of the girl child is a major problem in Jamaica. Preliminary data from the OCR shows that in 2013, 3386 sexual abuse cases were reported, a 23% increase over the previous year. Of the reported cases, 92% were of girls; more than half (1,910) of all reported cases of sexual abuse were carnal abuse (sex with children under 16 years old) and there were 349 cases of child rape (UNICEF, 2014).

How our research works

The None in Three model uses a mixed methods research approach:

We have conducted interviews and focus groups with survivors and perpetrators of child sexual abuse to gain a deep understanding of young people’s experiences.
We have surveyed more than 7,000 young people in schools in Jamaica to understand their exposure and attitudes to violence.
The outcomes from our research are informing the development of an interactive educational game for young people to play.
We will use further anonymous surveys to evaluate the impact on young people of the game.
A teaching resource pack will accompany the game, after it has been evaluated, to ensure players have sufficient time to reflect on the issues and debate the characters’ attitudes and behaviours.

Our work

What we do

We work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders to understand the important work they do, and to interview the survivors and perpetrators of gender violence they support.

We also work closely with schools and with young people, some of whom will act as consultants helping us to develop a realistic and dynamic computer game.

References

Slider statistics

¹Jones & Trotman Jemmott, 2009,Perceptions of, Attitudes to and Opinions on Child Sexual Abuse in the Eastern Caribbean, read online

²Jones & Trotman Jemmott, 2016, Twenty-one lessons: preventing domestic violence in the Caribbean, read online

³Soyibo K , Lee MG (2000), Domestic and school violence among high school students in Jamaica, The West Indian Medical Journal

⁴Unicef, 2018, Situation Analysis of Jamaican Children, read online

⁵Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2006 – Jamaica, 23 May 2006, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/447ff7ac16.html