June 21, 2002 – More than 300 people turned out for Friday evening's march from Roy L. Schneider Hospital to Emancipation Garden to protest child abuse.
Taking part in the procession and the program that followed were Human Services Department personnel, other government workers, Delta Sigma Theta sorority members, Sts. Peter and Paul School students and parents, agency social workers, child advocates and a sizable contingent of other concerned community members.
They wound their way down Race Track Road and over Beltjen Road to the downtown park carrying signs, calling out to passersby and eliciting honks of solidarity from rush hour motorists. In Emancipation Garden, featured speakers Dilsa Capdeville of KidsCope and Michal Rhymer of Family Resource Center related the territory's continuing problem of violence against children and recounted the history of efforts to end such abuse.
The event was organized by Velven Samuel, director of Human Services' Office of Child Care, Regulatory and Volunteer Services. It was sponsored by that office in conjunction the V.I. Health and Safety Network and the local Delta Sigma Theta alumnae chapter.
Samuel's office has jurisdiction over day care and other early childhood institutions where, she said, signs of child abuse first become evident and where it is important to identify possible victims of violence in the home.
The Health and Safety Network is made up of representatives of the Health, Human Services and Police Departments, Fire Service, community agencies and concerned parents. One of its focuses is on child abuse and neglect. Samuel, a network member, said its purpose is to address issues in a comprehensive manner, cutting across bureaucratic lines. "We are aware as a group and as individuals of the problem," she said, and the march was undertaken to raise public consciousness.
Ione Kitnurse, both a sorority member and a Human Services official, said Delta Sigma Theta members are involved in various network agencies, so cooperation on the march project was natural. And working to end child abuse reflects the sorority's national service agenda, she added.
High spirits and camaraderie mixed with anger as the participants covered the mile-long route in about 25 minutes. There were comments that domestic abuse attracts little political attention, although it poisons lives in a cycle of violence that never stops.
At Emancipation Garden, the crowd listened attentively as Capdeville spoke of her 30-year struggle against domestic violence in the territory, first with the old Social Services Department, later with what was then called Women's Resource Center (now Family Resource Center), and most recently as founder of KidsCope. Since the 1970s, she said, "we have come a long way, but not long enough."
She added, "We need to look at who we are electing come November and see who will stand with us in the fight."
Rhymer also brought politics to the forefront. Decrying what she called apathy within the criminal justice system and the community at large, she said, "It is political." Victims of abuse are nearly a non-issue for local politicians, she said, and change must come from the grassroots.
"We must make a loud noise, join together as a harmonious choir and sing," she said. "Every level of our community must unite … We must take responsibility for our children."
Kitnurse urged people to come forward and "blow the whistle" when children seem to be at risk. "If something seems wrong, make the phone call" to authorities, she pleaded.
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