While visiting the island of Grand Bahama, Bahamas Crisis Center Director, Sandra Dean Patterson revealed that the center has received thirty referrals involving the sexual assault of children in 2026.

Dean Patterson told ZNS News, “the worrying thing is it continues to happen. I mean here we are two months into the year and we’ve already got thirty children who were referred for sexual assault. And so that’s just the tip of the iceberg that’s not talking about the domestic violence that’s happening within the home.”

According to Dean Patterson spreading awareness is important but action is needed to stop cases of violence. “And the only way that we can ever break this cycle and interrupt this is for everybody to work together. If we stop working in silos and we work together as teams,” she said.

Instances of child sexual abuse usually increases during the summer months when school is closed. Crisis center officials are worried that occurrences are happening throughout the year.