The Anguilla Red Cross is now equipped to deliver Child Safeguarding Training. The “Stewards of Children” Training is designed to train adults to protect children from sexual abuse. The “Stewards of Children” Training is of the Darkness to Light Organization, and the Anguilla Red Cross is now an Authorized Darkness to Light Facilitator. Darkness to Light is a non-profit organization, that seeks to empower adults to prevent child sexual abuse. The Darkness to Light Programmes raise awareness and educate adults on how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. It must be noted that child sexual abuse is a complex problem. The purpose of the “Stewards of Children” Training is to give simple proactive steps to protect children from sexual abuse. The information provided is not a substitute for the advice of professionals. It does not teach a guaranteed method to identify people who sexually offend against children, and is not intended to be a therapeutic tool. The training alone does not address all policy issues for organizations. A major aspect of the training is the “5 steps to protecting our children”. The 5 steps are:
1. Learn the facts,
2. Minimize opportunity,
3. Talk about it,
4. Recognize signs,
5. React responsibly.
The training also highlights establishing policies and procedures in youth serving organizations, and the preparation and implementation of Code of Conducts for organizations.
The training was arranged by the Cayman Islands Red Cross, and was conducted May 3 to 5 in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands Red Cross has championed Child Safeguarding in the Cayman Islands for many years; and the training, commitment and community resources are advanced and effective. The context for developing the initiative in Anguilla is similar to what existed in the Cayman Islands; and support discussions have not identified any challenges to progress the initiative forward in Anguilla.
The goal of the Anguilla Red Cross is for Anguilla to be free of child sexual abuse. Anguilla must be a place where all children are loved, protected, and nurtured; able to grow up healthy, with their sexual boundaries intact. This is the birthright of every child. Ultimately, the Anguilla Red Cross want to achieve nothing short of ending child sexual abuse in Anguilla. This is best achieved by cooperative and community effort. When child sexual abuse is prevented, the root causes of many social problems are addressed; such as violent crimes, homelessness, teen pregnancy, communicable diseases, substance abuse, and pornography. The Anguilla Red Cross is looking forward to partnering with various organizations to facilitate training to eliminate child sexual abuse in Anguilla.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
