The Office of the Children’s Registry, OCR, is reporting a sharp increase in the number of reported cases of child abuse last year.
Speaking this afternoon at a media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, Children’s Registrar, Greig Smith, says the OCR received over eleven-thousand reports of child abuse in 2013.
Mr. Smith says the number of abuse cases for girls continues to be higher than that of boys.
The Children’s Registrar says the rise in the number of reported cases is worrying as many other cases remain unreported.
He says a recent study conducted by the OCR with the help of UNICEF indicated that despite knowing about abuse, only one in ten Jamaicans make a report.
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