Belize City Marches in Blue for Child Protection

Belize City saw a wave of blue this morning as dozens of Belizeans marched in support of children and young people affected by abuse. The march, organized by the National Women’s Commission and the Ministry of Human Development, formed part of a wider campaign calling on communities to protect children, support survivors, and break the silence around violence in the home and in society. Organizers say the message is simple but urgent: child abuse cannot be treated as a private matter, and everyone has a role to play in helping to prevent it. The initiative also ties into the ongoing Blue Teddy Bear Campaign, which focuses on raising awareness, encouraging reporting, and building safer communities for children across Belize. Today, we spoke with Minister of Human Development Thea Garcia-Ramirez, who shared how the ministry and its partners are working to strengthen prevention efforts and keep children safe.

 

Thea Garcia-Ramirez, Minister of Human Development

“ For the year 2025, there were two hundred and forty cases of sexual abuse reported in the country, and one hundred and twenty-five cases of sexual assault addressed by the Department of Human Services, for a total of three hundred and sixty-five cases of sexual violence against children. That’s one a day on average. So whether or not it makes the news, just know that somewhere in the country of Belize, every day there is a report of someone  violating children sexually in this country. That’s a lot. That is a lot. And we’re not talking about all the other cases of neglect, of physical abuse, of verbal abuse, of emotional abuse that we have. This is specifically sexual abuse against children. And I think that that is something that we need to be told upfront, so people know how bad it is. We are a very small country, and for us to have one case reported, and it is generally considered that only about forty percent of cases ever get reported. So if you do the math, it’s a lot. I also want to say that, in response to the increase of reports that the ministry has hired seven new child services officers to be able to respond. We have a lot of cases that we need to respond and to deal with. Social workers are overwhelmed by the amount of cases that we have coming. And so in response to that, we have lobbied cabinet and government and secured spots for seven new child services officers this year, and we will hire seven more because resources have to be administered.”

 

The ministry will hire twenty-one new child services officers and four additional supervisors over the next three years to help manage over one thousand new child protection cases reported annually.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: