110 boys ageing from zero to 18 abused in Guyana in first quarter of 2021 : Report

Ministry of Human Service of Guyana stated that during the first quarter of this year, 110 boys under the age of 3 were abused in a manner. The ministry, in delivering the statistics on Sunday in observance of the International Day of the Boy Child, declared the number was of a total of 404 boys who were molested during the same period. Minister of Human Services Dr Vindhya Persaud stated that the aim has always been to give more attention to the girls and protect them, while lesser attention is showed to the protection of boys. She stated that there is no doubt that more girls are sexually or otherwise molested, but attention also needs to be drawn towards shielding boys. Dr Vindhya Persaud stated that the abuse includes sexual, verbal, physical and abandonment. She stated more systems are being put in place to protect boys and girls in Guyana. Minister stated that around 110 boys ageing from zero to 18-year-old faced all different forms of abuse. Furthermore, the minister highlighted that the ministry's Child Care and Protection Agency, managed by Ann Greene, has been operating to raise more awareness of the problem. “It's striking that our boys are throbbing and they require us. While they are also prepared for sexual abuse, we don't get them to speak easily about it,” she emphasised. In December, in another segment of the local media, it was published that 113 boys were sexually molested from January 2020 to October 2020, as per the statistics compiled and presented by the Child Care and Protection Agency. These characters showed that boys between the ages of eight and 13 are the most victims of sexual abuse, with 44 of them in that age group being made victims so far this year. However, the numbers given by the Human Services Minister in the press report show that the largest number of abused boys (147 boys) were in the 8 to 13 age group.