A team from the UK National Crime Agency – Child Exploitation On Line Protection (CEOP) Command visited Anguilla from 17 November to 1 December 2016. The team undertook a comprehensive scoping of current risks, threats and capabilities of Anguilla to respond to the threat of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The team met with a wide cross section of government institutions and non-governmental organisations, as well as briefing Executive Council.
The visit is part of a wider UK Government funded programme that will deliver training and mentoring to key institutions in Anguilla to improve child safeguarding. This will include the Royal Anguilla Police Force, the Departments of Social Development, Education and Probation, and schools, offering bespoke training packages followed by a mentoring and review programme. It is hoped the first training/mentoring programme will start in spring 2017.
The four-year programme aims to support Anguilla’s existing multi-agency approach to tackling this serious issue. It will cover areas such as raising awareness of the various forms of child abuse, identifying signs of and the methods to report abuse, and the subsequent investigation and the safeguarding of child victims. Building on initiatives already underway by the Government of Anguilla and international partners such as UNICEF, the programme is designed to improve further our ability to protect the children of Anguilla. The objective is to ensure that everyone in Anguilla with responsibilities for protecting our young people is properly trained and supported to meet their legal obligations, including with regard to early identification, effective victim support, and thorough investigation of child abuse.
-Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
