How to prevent
Practical steps for parents and caregivers, starting earlier than most people expect.
Start earlier than feels necessary
The most common question parents ask is what age is the right age. The answer is that prevention starts as soon as a child can name the parts of their own body. A three year old who knows the correct words for their body, and knows that no adult should ask them to keep a secret about it, already has protection that a silent child does not.
These conversations do not need to be one large and serious talk. They work better as many small ones, repeated over years, folded into ordinary moments such as bath time, getting dressed, or a scene in a television programme.
Teach the difference between a surprise and a secret
Children are told to keep secrets constantly, often by people who mean no harm. This is why the distinction matters. A surprise is something that will be told eventually and that makes someone happy, such as a birthday gift. A secret is something a child is asked never to tell. Teach a simple rule: adults do not ask children to keep secrets, and any adult who does is doing something wrong, no matter who they are.
Name a circle of safe adults
Ask the child to name three or four adults they could talk to if something worried them, and make sure at least one of them lives outside the household. Write the list down together. A child who has practised naming these people is far more likely to actually reach one of them under stress.
Pay attention to opportunity, not to strangers
Most children who are harmed are harmed by someone they already know and trust. Prevention that focuses only on strangers leaves the real risk untouched. Instead, pay attention to situations: adults who seek time alone with a child without a clear reason, who give gifts or privileges that are kept quiet, who cross small physical limits to see whether anyone objects, or who position themselves as the only person who truly understands the child.
If a child ever tells you something
Stay calm, believe them, thank them for telling you, and do not press for detail. Then call 999 or contact the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. Your first reaction shapes whether that child ever speaks again.
Make the household easy to speak in
Children weigh up whether an adult can handle what they are about to hear. A home where questions get calm answers, where nobody is punished for raising something awkward, and where the adults do not visibly panic is a home where disclosure is possible. This is the least technical and most effective thing any parent can do.