Across The Bahamas, the silent cries of children are beginning to echo.

Newly publicized findings from the 2023 Global School-based Student Health Survey have given measurable voice to what educators and child protection advocates have long worked to uncover. Framed within national discussions on child sexual abuse and trauma, the data highlights the downstream outcomes practitioners say often follow unaddressed harm. More than one in four students surveyed reported experiencing suicidal thoughts, nearly one in five said they had attempted suicide, and more than half indicated they do not confide in anyone when they are struggling – indicators, experts caution, of trauma that frequently originates well before a child ever enters a classroom.

Against this reality, guidance counsellors from schools across New Providence convened recently at the Department of Social Services for a one-day workshop focused on one of the most under-reported drivers of childhood trauma: sexual abuse.

Held as part of Child Protection Month 2026 under the theme “Building Safe Spaces: A Community Promise to Our Children,” the session was organized by the National Child Protection Council in partnership with the Ministry of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting through the Say No, Then Go child-safety campaign. The campaign focuses on prevention education for children, including how to recognize unsafe situations, assert boundaries, and report concerns to trusted adults.

Dr Novia T. Carter-Lookie, Chair of the National Child Protection Council and a senior child psychologist within the Ministry of Education, delivered a digital presentation titled “Hidden Harm: Understanding Incest, Trauma, and the Sexualized Brain.” She urged counsellors to consider behaviour and academic performance not as standalone measures, but as possible indicators of underlying trauma and the physiological expression of its neurological impact.

Globally, Dr Carter-Lookie noted, one in four girls and one in six boys will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18 – most often within trusted relationships and without ever reporting the abuse. Drawing on neurological research, she emphasized that trauma is not merely an emotional response but a biological injury. When a child’s brain remains in a prolonged state of threat, the amygdala becomes overactive, the prefrontal cortex – responsible for reasoning and learning – shuts down, and survival eclipses cognition.

“You cannot teach a brain that is trying to survive,” Dr Carter-Lookie stated.

That understanding underpinned the trauma-informed approach introduced during the workshop. Counsellors were guided through a five-step framework designed to support children who disclose abuse or present with signs of trauma: ensuring physical and emotional safety, listening and validating, understanding context, building a purposeful response plan, and providing sustained follow-up.

For many of the guidance counsellors in attendance, the workshop affirmed what they confront daily.

“We see the silence long before we hear the story,” said Deborah Smith, Chief Social Worker, who works closely with school-based professionals. “Sometimes it shows up as withdrawal, sometimes as anger, sometimes as a child who suddenly can’t focus. Workshops like this help us respond with more clarity, more compassion, and more confidence – because these children need adults who don’t miss the signs.”

The programme forms part of the National Child Protection Council’s longstanding work in prevention, education, and advocacy – efforts that for decades have sought to strengthen child-safeguarding systems across The Bahamas.

Speaking to the Ministry’s broader mandate, Deidre Hepburn, Acting Director of the Department of Social Services, underscored the government’s commitment to child protection.

“Our responsibility is not only to intervene after harm has occurred, but to build systems that prevent it,” Hepburn said. “Every child deserves safety, dignity, and the assurance that when they speak, they will be heard. The Ministry remains fully committed to strengthening reporting pathways, supporting schools, and ensuring that no child suffers in silence.”

This year’s Child Protection Month theme underscores the need for more than awareness. Building safe spaces, participants were reminded, requires coordinated action across schools, families, and communities.

For the counsellors in the room, silence was framed not as an absence of risk or reassurance, but as an opening – an opportunity to engage, to build trust, and to establish meaningful channels of communication with the students in their charge.

As data continues to give voice to what children have long carried quietly, the call to listen – and, moreover, to act – grows louder with each passing day.

Members of the public are reminded that suspected child abuse should be reported to the Department of Social Services Hotline at 322-2763, or to emergency services at 911 or 919.

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