PEOPLE - Children of the Tundra (RT Documentary)

AMAZING - Fish Children

HIDDEN AMERICA - Children Of The Mountains (Documentary)

CHILD - Britain's Child Beggars (BBC Documentary)

SHOCKING - 'A culture of sexual abuse of children': Shocking report claims British overseas territory of St Helena is rife with child abuse, domestic violence and sexual exploitation

'A culture of sexual abuse of children': Shocking report claims British overseas territory of St Helena is rife with child abuse, domestic violence and sexual exploitation

• A vile 'cultural acceptance of the sexualisation of children' was uncovered 
• Health workers on the island said sexual violence was endemic
• Were a number of 'serial' sex offenders among the island's 3,800 inhabitants
• Review of policing on the island has begun because of 'significant' concerns
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By LOUISE ECCLES

PUBLISHED: 19:15 GMT, 15 July 2014 | UPDATED: 20:11 GMT, 15 July 2014

A shocking report which was never published claims the British overseas territory of St Helena is rife with child sexual abuse, domestic violence and sexual exploitation.

A child protection charity – which was dispatched to St Helena Island and Ascension Island last summer by the British government – uncovered a vile ‘cultural acceptance of the sexualisation of children’.

Health workers on St Helena told respected UK charity, The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, that ‘sexual violence and brutality were endemic’.

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Vile culture: A report on the overseas territory St Helena suggests child abuse, sexual exploitation and domestic violence were rife. 

The island only has 3,800 citizens 

Meanwhile, the charity reported there were a number of ‘serial’ sex offenders on St Helena despite a population of just 3,800 inhabitants.

The charity also called for a review into policing on the South Atlantic island, where many officers are English, over ‘significant’ concerns.

Residents told the Mail the island was ‘worse than Pitcairn Island’ – another remote British territory where, ten years ago, six men on an island of just 47 people were convicted of dozens of sexual offenses.

The report will embarrass the government, which gives the poverty-stricken St Helena £20million-a-year to help the residents survive on the remote island.

Despite the horrifying abuse laid out in an 83-page report in May 2013, the visit was never publicised and the files were reduced to a four-page summary, which was quietly published on the islands’ government websites.

Now, the Mail can reveal that the charity found:

• A ‘persistent’ culture on both islands of ‘the sexual abuse of teenage girls’.
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• ‘An evident failure on the part of the police’ to tackle sexual offenders and notions of ‘victim blaming’ among authorities.
• Provisions for disabled children which were ‘as bad as anything that could be imagined’ and reminiscent of a ‘Victorian lunatic asylum’.
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The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) could now face accusations of a cover-up in the same month it emerged a dossier detailing explosive claims of a paedophile ring within Westminster had gone missing.

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Investigation: The charity also called for a review into policing on the remote South Atlantic island, where many officers are English, 

over ‘significant’ concerns

David Cameron has ordered a fresh investigation into what had happened to the files which allegedly exposed sexual abuse by a paedophiles at Westminster and Whitehall.

The government faced serious questions last night over what action it had taken since the report – commissioned by the Department for International Development (DFID) – had been written, and why the findings had never been released in full.

Critics suggested officials had kept the report quiet over fears it could derail British plans for St Helena to become a tourist destination and finally become self-sustainable.

The remote island, which has no natural resources or economy, is only accessible via a five-day journey Royal Mail ship from Cape Town or a two-day boat from Ascension Island.

As a result, the UK government has invested £250million into building an airport on St Helena, which opens in 2016, in the hope it will attract holidaymakers and end its reliance on hand-outs from UK taxpayers.

But reports that the island had become ‘a safe haven for sex offenders’, as one resident phrased it, could crush hopes of its future as an exotic, sub-tropical tourist destination.

A source said the island was already a ‘sanctuary for paedophiles’ and that the abuse of children was ‘routine’.

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Shocking: The report will embarrass the government, which gives the poverty-stricken St Helena £20million-a-year to help the residents survive on the remote island 

A British worker told the Mail: ‘The UK public would be absolutely horrified by the casual acceptance of the sexual abuse of children and adults by people on the island.

‘The government is desperate for it not to get out because of the airport. It cannot be allowed to fail.’

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation has warned that the airport ‘could attract ‘cash rich tourists’ and be a recipe of ‘sexual tourism and vice’.

They said the island was ‘ripe for exploitation by more sophisticated visitors’.

Residents also warned it would become a ‘paedophile’s paradise’ when the airport opened, as predators took advantage of a ‘perfect storm’ of extreme poverty, a cultural acceptance of sex abuse and ‘lax policing’.

One British police officer told us he could not talk about his time on the island for fear of repercussions, but said: ‘There are dark forces at work on St Helena.’

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Danger: A worker on the island said it was a destination ‘ripe for exploitation by more sophisticated visitors’

Five months after the publication of the Lucy Faithfull Report, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office sent Northumbria Police to investigate ’current police practices’ on St Helena, which also manages officers on Ascension.

The last three police chiefs on St Helena have been from Sussex Police and many senior officers on the island are also from the UK.

But while Northumbria Police made a number of findings after visiting last October, these have also never been made public.

Speaking of the investigation by Northumbria Police, an FCO spokesman said: ‘The report found no evidence of criminality by individual officers, but make a number of helpful recommendations about how the performance of the police could be improved.

‘As a result, the St Helena Police Service is implementing these recommendations, under new leadership, and we will continue to support them in these efforts.

‘The Governor and the UK will not hesitate to take action when low standards of policing and social services require it.’

They suggested the report had been condensed to just four pages because it ‘presumably contained personal data’.

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Past case: Residents said it was ‘worse than Pitcairn Island’ (pictured) – another remote British territory where, ten years ago, six men on 

an island of just 47 people were convicted of dozens of sexual offenses

Peter Coll, the St Helena Chief of Police between 2009 and last November, accused the Lucy Faithfull Foundation of being ‘hysterical’ and ‘hunting out issues’.

Mr Coll, who claimed the situation on the island was no worse than his old beats of Brighton and Hastings, retired one month after a condensed version of the charity report was published, after his four-year contract ended.

The former Metropolitan Police officer and retired Sussex Police Chief Superintendent said St Helena police were ‘committed’ to investigating every allegation of crime.

He said: ‘They [Lucy Faithfull] seem to say there is a really serious endemic problem but my personal view is I have encountered a lot more serious crime locally in the towns I have worked in in the south of England.

‘My genuine opinion having worked in the police service in child protection and other issues, my genuine view is that it their take on it is extreme.’

He added that the report ‘contains some useful advice and recommendations that are welcomed by all people concerned about child safeguarding on St Helena.’

The St Helena Government said it had taken on board the recommendations by The Lucy Faithfull Foundation and these were now ‘well in train’.

A spokesman for the St Helena Police and the government said: ‘There is no reluctance to investigate sexual abuse allegations on the Island.

‘To suggest that there is a reluctance to examine cases, somehow linked to a wish not to damage tourism, is absurd.

‘On the contrary, the police continue to investigate and successfully prosecute offenders.

‘In addition, the various agencies here are now working closely together to review historic cases.’

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2693416/A-culture-sexual-abuse-children-Shocking-report-claims-British-overseas-territory-St-Helena-rife-child-abuse-domestic-violence-sexual-exploitation.html#ixzz37Zk2mBRJ 

YEMEN - Opinion: Time to stop child marriage in Yemen and give girls back their childhood

From Nawal Ba Abbad, Special for CNN

March 17, 2014 -- Updated 1050 GMT (1850 HKT)

Former child-bride Nujud Mohammed Ali made headlines in 2008 when, at the age of 8, she was granted a divorce after her unemployed father forced her into an arranged marriage with a man twenty years her senior.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Campaigners in Yemen want law against child marriage in the country
• Around one third of girls married before they are 18, according to the UN
• Nawal Ba Abbad says younger marriage leads to more complications during childbirth
• Some girls are sent into arranged marriages as young as 9 years old

Editor's note: Dr Nawal Ba Abbad is a doctor from Sanaa, Yemen, who in partnership with White Ribbon Alliance Yemen has campaigned tirelessly for a law against child marriage in her country.

(CNN) -- Throughout my career as a doctor I have traveled from the mountains of Yemen to its deserts. I have seen first hand what happens when children give birth to children. I have seen the tombstones of girls who died too young because they married too young.

Yemen is one of only two countries in the world with no legislation on a minimum age of marriage.

With a national dialogue underway to establish a new constitution, there is now a chance to establish a safe age of marriage, protecting young girls who are currently married off as young as 9 years old.

As I advocate to end child marriage in Yemen, I always remember my best friend at school. We would talk about our future and what we wanted to be when we grew up. We had big aspirations, as young girls should. My friend was the smartest girl in our class. Everything felt possible.

Nawal Ba Abbad

But when she was 13, she was told to leave school to prepare for her wedding. Her dreams ended. We were all so upset. I still remember her wedding day as we tried to support her. It was such a sad day for us all, a stark comparison for so many whose wedding day is remembered as the happiest of their lives.

We have a chance to establish a safe age of marriage, protecting girls who are brides as young as nine years old.
Nawal Ba Abbad

I was lucky. My parents did not want me to marry as a child. They were my firewall, protecting me from the pressure of all the people in my community who said I should marry. They were determined to give me a brighter future.

As I carried on my studies, and became a doctor, the image of my friend's wedding always stayed with me. So many girls in my country don't have the right to say "No, I don't want that man or this kind of life." My friend moved away and we didn't stay in touch.

My friend's story is not unusual. The UN estimates that one in three girls in Yemen are married before 18. Around the world, approximately 14 million girls are married as children every year.

The right to choose

To think of all the girls in my country who are forced into marriage, lose their personalities, their happiness and just have to obey what they are told to do, is what drives me forward in my work.

Child brides don't talk about it, but they suffer. A recent study in Yemen has shown that girls who have their rights taken from them in this way do not forgive their parents, and there is a breakdown of family relationships.

11-year-old: I ran away from being sold

As a doctor I see the complications young girls are suffering from as they give birth before their bodies are ready. Girls not Brides, a civil society network campaigning against child marriage, suggests that girls under 15 are five times more likely to die giving birth.

Child brides: A global problem

Yemen has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. According to the White Ribbon Alliance, one in 90 women die in childbirth in my country. I cannot bear to continue to watch young women giving up their lives and having to give birth too young.

We must support our girls and women by providing better maternal health care, access to family planning and safe abortion.

We must work together to end early marriage so that all girls have the right to choose when and whom to marry and are able to finish their education, strengthening the bonds that are so important to us, with our friends and our family.

We know how to fix these problems. We can tackle many issues if we tackle early marriage.

Together in partnership with the White Ribbon Alliance in Yemenand many other activists we have been campaigning for a safe age of marriage for many years. Since the uprising in 2011, a new constitution is being drafted in my country.

This is an opportunity to establish a minimum age of marriage. But it is a narrow window of opportunity.

Too often girls have no voice, no choice, no access. I am determined to help them have a better future. My friend did not fulfill her dream, but by ending child marriage together we can make sure that girls in Yemen and around the world can fulfill theirs.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nawal Ba Abbad.

PEOPLE - Saddest Condition

Syria's forgotten children: How youngsters are forced to play with rockets and eat leaves as the civil war rages

By ANNA EDWARDS

PUBLISHED: 16:09 GMT, 17 October 2013 | UPDATED: 17:19 GMT, 17 October 2013

As the civil war in Syria rages on between the rebels and government forces, countless innocent civilians have died in the ongoing battle.

For those left behind, they have tried to carve out as normal a life as possible - despite the destruction and bloodshed that has become a standard feature of their landscape.

But for the children of Syria, the extraordinary violence and hardship is the usual for them.

Distressing photos show how the youngsters use discarded weaponry to fashion toys from them.

Scroll down for video

Children ride on makeshift swings made from remnants of rockets at a basement in the Duma neighbourhood in Damascus

Remnants of weapons including rockets, mortar shells, bullet casings have been used to create ornamental objects, musical instruments 

and toys for children to entertain them during Eid al-Adha

Remnants of rockets, bullet shells and mortar cases have been turn into swings, ornaments and games for the youngsters, who happily play with whatever they can find.

The desperate measures to provide children with entertainment came as adults tried to make them forget about the pain of their everyday lives, so that they could enjoy the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.

As the children enjoy some unexpected pleasure in their macabre toys, other infants across Syria are starving to death.

Children trapped inside a town that is under siege have been forced to eat leaves and berries because no food or supplies can reach them.

Moadamia, which was was attacked by the deadly Sarin nerve-gas in August, has been barricaded in for nearly a year; any resident who attempts to leave faces being shot or tortured, Vice.com reported. 

Children have delighted in playing with their toys, which are a welcome distraction from the violence that surrounds their homes

Children ride on a makeshift merry-go-round made from remnants of Russian bombs

Children play with ornamental objects made from the scraps of weapons as adults try to shield them from the horrors of war

WARNING Graphic: Medics try to help starving child in Syria war

The rebel-held town is threatened on a near-daily basis by shelling attacks - but the children are not dying at the hands of war weapons - it is through starvation that they are dying a cruel and slow death.

Some mothers cannot produce milk, so can only watch as their helpless babies slowly starve.

Graphic videos show how the children's stomachs have swelled, their eyes protrude and their gums bleed from malnourishment.

One baby that was filmed a day before she died of malnutrition and had deteriorated so badly that doctors could not do anything to save her.

The food situation has become so desperate that a cleric has issued a fatwa allowing starving people in Syria to eat cats and dogs.

As Muslims around the world mark the Eid al-Adha holiday, sharing festive meals, children trapped in besieged areas around the Syrian capital are going hungry, activists and medics say.

'We issued a religious edict allowing people to eat dog and cat meat. Not because it is religiously permitted, but because it is a reflection of the reality we are suffering,' said Sheikh Saleh al-Khatib, who has been on hunger strike for nine days.

'People here have nothing for their children. I am on strike because I want to help save food for others.'

Desperate; This little girl died of starvation shortly after she was filmed. There are reports that children are eating leaves because they 

are so hungry

But while thousands of children struggle to survive, the war in Syria shows no sign of abating.

Car bombs and mortar shells have exploded close to the hotel where chemical weapons inspectors are staying in the Syrian capital in recent days, but officials say there is no way of knowing if the team is being deliberately targeted.

In the past five days, mortar rounds have twice exploded close to the hotel and car bombs have been detonated, Malik Ellahi, a senior official at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said at the organisation's headquarters in The Hague.

The blasts underscore the risky nature of the team's work amid Syria's devastating civil war, but have not prevented progress.

'In terms of the security situation there are always concerns but the team so far has, with the co-operation of the Syrian authorities, managed to conduct its work unimpeded,' Mr Ellahi said.

The OPCW won the Nobel Peace Prize last week for its work in attempting to rid the world of chemical weapons.

It is working with the United Nations in an unprecedented disarmament mission in Syria, attempting to destroy the country's chemical arsenal by mid-2014 - the first time its inspectors have been sent into the heart of a civil war.

PEOPLE - A 5-year-old peruvian: world's youngest mother

Into the hospital at Pisco (Peru) came a tired, ragged Indian woman from the foothills of the Andes. She led by the hand a shy little girl, scarcely three feet tall, with chestnut braids and an enormously bulging abdomen. Pointing to the frightened child, the Indian woman begged Surgeon Geraldo Lozada to exorcise the evil spirits which had taken possession of her. Certain that little Lina Medina had an abdominal tumor, Dr. Lozada examined her, and received the surprise of his life when he discovered she was eight months pregnant, making her the world's youngest mother ever. 

Dr. Lozada took her to Lima, the capital of Peru, prior to the surgery to have other specialists confirm that Lina was in fact pregnant. A month and a half later, on May 14, 1939, she gave birth to a boy by a caesarean section necessitated by her small pelvis. The surgery was performed by Dr. Lozada and Dr. Busalleu, with Dr. Colretta providing anaesthesia. Her case was reported in detail by Dr. Edmundo Escomel to La Presse Medicale, along with the additional details that her menarche had occurred at 8 months of age, and that she had had prominent breast development by the age of 4. By age 5 her figure displayed pelvic widening and advanced bone maturation. 

Her son weighed 2.7 kg (6 lb) at birth and was named Gerardo after her doctor. Gerardo was raised believing that Lina was his sister, but found out at the age of ten that she was his mother. He grew up healthy but died in 1979 at the age of 40 of a disease of the bone marrow. 

There was never evidence that Lina Medina's pregnancy occurred in any but the usual way, but she never revealed the father of the child, nor the circumstances of her impregnation. Dr. Escomel suggested she might not actually know herself by writing that Lina "couldn't give precise responses." Lina's father was arrested on suspicion of rape and incest, but was later released due to lack of evidence. Medina later married Raúl Jurado, who fathered her second son in 1972. They live in a poor district of Lima known as Chicago Chico ("Little Chicago"). She refused an interview with Reuters in 2002. 


There are two published photographs documenting the case. The first one was taken around the beginning of April, 1939, when Medina was seven and a half months into pregnancy. Taken from Medina's left side, it shows her standing naked in front of an inconclusive backdrop (either the side wall of a house with the sun shining on her, or a light-diffusing blanket in a room with an overhead light pointed toward the front of her body). This is the only published photograph of Lina taken during her pregnancy. This photograph is of significant value because it proves Medina's pregnancy as well as the extent of her physiological development. However, this photograph is not widely known outside medical circles. The other photograph is of far greater clarity and was taken a year later in Lima when Gerardo was eleven months old. 

Although the case was called a hoax by some, a number of doctors over the years have verified it based on biopsies, X rays of the fetal skeleton in utero, and photographs taken by the doctors caring for her. Extreme degrees of precocious puberty in children under 5 are very uncommon but not unheard of. Pregnancy and delivery by a child this young remains extremely rare because extremely precocious puberty is treated to suppress fertility, preserve growth potential, and reduce the social consequences of full sexual development in childhood, and because termination of such pregnancy is more widely available now than in the early 20th century. 

Motherhood: Other amazing cases

Bobbie McCaughey is the mother who holds the record for the most surviving children from a single birth. She gave birth to the first set of surviving septuplets - 4 boys and 3 girls on November 19, 1997, at the University Hospital, Iowa, US. Conceived by in vitro fertilization, the babies were delivered after 31 weeks by caesarean in the space of 16 minutes. The babies are named Kenneth, Nathaniel, Brandon, Joel, Kelsey, Natalie and Alexis. 

Jayne Bleackley is the mother who holds the record for the shortest interval between two children born in separate pregnancies. She gave birth to Joseph Robert on September 3, 1999, and Annie Jessica Joyce on March 30, 2000. The babies were born 208 days apart. 

Elizabeth Ann Buttle is the mother who holds the record for the longest interval between the birth of two children. She gave birth to Belinda on May 19,1956 and Joseph on November 20, 1997. The babies were born 41 years 185 days apart. The mother was 60 years old when her son Joseph was born. 

The highest officially recorded number of children born to one Russian mother is 69. Between 1725 and 1765, in a total of 27 pregnancies, she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quadruplets. 67 of them survived infancy. 

The modern world record for giving birth is held by Leontina Albina from San Antonio, Chile. Leontina claims to be the mother of 64 children, of which only 55 of them are documented. She is listed in the 1999 Guinness World Records but dropped from later editions.