Many law-abiding citizens have recently been speaking out against the abuses being meted out to the children.

The say many of the perpetrators go unpunished because some parents and guardians refuse to report such cases.

A woman who lives in the Kingston 11 area said last year that she had to send her 15-year-old daughter to live in Westmoreland with her aunt because a man who claims he runs the area wanted to be intimate with her daughter.

"I had to get her away from the area real fast, because I know what was going to happen," she said.

"If my daughter had refused to have a relationship with him, I am sure she would be killed. The day she came and told me that the man expressed sexual interest in her, my daughter was very worried and scared.

"The next day, I packed her belongings and took her to live with my sister in Westmoreland. Now, my daughter is doing very well in school and is very happy. I have noticed that too many young girls are being forced to have relationships with certain men just out of fear of being harmed."

Another woman disclosed last week that as a child, she was sexually abused by a male relative, and she makes every effort to protect her children. She advises that parents and guardians should educate their children about abuse.

"Tell your children from four years that if anybody touches them in certain areas of their bodies, they must tell you. I became a victim of sexual abuse when I was nine years old. My elder brother noticed what was happening and told my mother, who threatened the relative never to return to our home.You will be surprised how these small children will make reports to you."

I must point out that not only girls are prone to sexual abuses, the boys, too, are being molested. Some parents and guardians know the children are being molested, but they refuse to take action.

"The schools should have weekly sessions with the children and encourage them to report any form of abuses to them. The children must be protected or else we are going to have a lot of mentally ill children in the society. I am aware that laws have been passed to protect our children, but the abuses and murders continue on a regular basis," she added.

The Child Care and Protection Act was passed specifically to protect the children from all types of abuses. However, there are adults who still disobey the law. There are those who continue to abuse the children, and there are those who refuse to report cases of abuse.