(The Valley, Anguilla ) A two-day symposium will be held in Barbados on May 11 and 12, 2009 to consider the report of a landmark study of child sexual abuse in the Eastern Caribbean .

This is the first comprehensive regional study to investigate perceptions of child sexual abuse, to explore attitudes towards the perpetrators of child sexual exploitation and to garner opinions on the forms of action that might make a difference. The study arises out of a joint programming initiative (UNICEF, UNIFEM together with key stakeholders across the region) aimed at reducing sexual violence against children, and is partially funded by DfID.

The need for the study is underpinned by the belief that social programmes to prevent and address child sexual abuse must be based on comprehensive knowledge of the situations, behaviours and attitudes that contribute to its existence.

Professor Adele Jones, Director of the Centre for Applied Childhood Studies, The University of Huddersfield (UK) and Mrs. Ena Trotman Jemmott of Action for Children, (Barbados) led a multi-disciplinary team of seven Caribbean Researchers in gathering data across six countries. The six countries were selected to ensure regional representativeness and thus the findings are applicable to the wider Caribbean. The governments of the countries involved: Barbados, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat and St. Kitts and Nevis were fully committed to the study and facilitated the cooperation and engagement of a wide number of stakeholders. The Anguillian researcher was Ijahnya Christian.

In addition to considering the findings and recommendations of the research project, the symposium will also hear from presenters on research into the commercial sexual exploitation of children and, emerging concerns about internet abuse.

The symposium, hosted by UNICEF, is the first stage of a dissemination process that seeks to ensure that the study has maximum impact in stimulating change.