Jamaica’s first lady, Juliet Holness, made an impassioned plea for the eradication of child sexual abuse at last Saturday’s Protect The Children Gala at Hyatt Regency in Fort Lauderdale.
The wife of Jamaica’s prime minister Andrew Holness, was keynote speaker at the event.
Citing statistics from the United Nations and UNICEF which showed millions of children throughout the world living in poverty and being sexually exploited, Holness noted that, “Child sexual abuse, like poverty, sickness and death, knows no boundaries.”
Holness stressed the need for organizations like Save Our Boys And Girls Foundation, a non government organization she founded in Jamaica.
It assists with educating and mentoring vulnerable children, ages 6 to eighteen.
While her address was largely gender-free, the mother of two sons emphasized the importance of strong men to a stable society.
With worldwide trends showing a worrying level of boys falling into criminality, she said: “We are running a serious risk of building broken men.”
The gala’s second staging was presented by the Female Development World Organization and Kiwanis Club of Lauderhill. Three persons were honored for their work with South Florida’s endangered youth.
They are: Pastor Marcus D. Davidson who received the International Leadership Award; Juliet Murphy Roulhac, the Humanitarian Award and Barbara Weinstein, Protect The Children Freedom Award.
Holness received the inaugural Dr Rita Marley Ambassador Award from Mrs Marley, widow of reggae icon Bob Marley.
