Governor & Wife Both Complete SCARS Training
News | October 24, 2013
Governor George Fergusson, together with his wife Margaret, are now certified ‘Stewards of Children’ having successfully completed the SCARS Bermuda’s three-hour workshop. The training delivered by SCARS is designed to educate adults on how to recognise, prevent and react responsibility to child sexual abuse. The Darkness to Light ‘Stewards of Children’ programme presented by SCARS is c... Read more
Top judge targets better approach to child sex abuse cases
News | July 19, 2013
Judges must be aware of the ‘softer skills’ needed in court when dealing with child sex abuse victims, according to the Chief Justice. Ian Kawaley’s comments come as he looks to establish a set of sentencing guidelines for child abuse cases to tackle the public perception there is inconsistency in the process. Mr Kawaley told the Sun the sentencing principles would initially be laid down a... Read more
SCARS Conference Increases Awareness of Child Sex Abuse
News | July 17, 2013
Authorities on the Island have been briefed on the latest techniques to promote the process of healing for families affected by the sexual abuse of children. The ‘Darkness to Light Stewards of Children’ sessions were hosted by Bermuda’s first charity specifically aimed at tackling this form of child abuse in Bermuda. The two sessions by Saving Children and Revealing Secrets or SCARS were h... Read more
SCARS Founder Presented with CableVision Community Award
News | July 12, 2013
Debi Ray-Rivers has been presented with a Bermuda CableVision Community Service Award for launching the charity SCARS (Saving Children and Revealing Secrets). SCARS conducts training, and spreads information, about child sexual abuse in hopes of raising awareness. It teaches the public how to prevent, recognise, and react, to child sexual abuse, and targets organisations entrusted with the care ... Read more
Debi Ray-Rivers Wins Community Service Award
News | July 11, 2013
Bermuda CableVision this morning [July 11] awarded Debi Ray-Rivers with the latest Bermuda CableVision Community Service Award for successfully campaigning to launch SCARS [Saving Children And Revealing Secrets], Bermuda’s first charity specifically aimed at tackling child sexual abuse, and the positive effects that the charity has since achieved. As part of the award, SCARS received a $1,000 d... Read more
Parent Life TV – Part 2
News | May 24, 2013
Segment 2 of Child Sexual Abuse continues. Sheelagh Cooper, Jon Brunson and Debi Ray-Rivers talk about a sex offenders list. What it may look like if Bermuda had one. Do you think the public should know the names of sexual offenders? By Parent Life TV... Read more
Parent Life TV – Part 1
News | May 18, 2013
Host Katrina Ball interviews S.C.A.R.S and Coalition for the Protection of Children on the subject of Child Sexual Abuse in Bermuda Parent Life TV... Read more
Healing Work for the SCARS Inside
News | March 19, 2013
This last weekend I attended a training session put on by SCARS (Saving Children and Revealing Secrets). SCARS is a Bermudian organisation created to address the situation as it presents itself in Bermuda. They presented a curriculum developed by Stewards of Children, which is a programme of Darkness to Light. Darkness to Light is a larger organisation dedicated to making known the crime of child ... Read more
CHILD ABUSE REPORT: Child Sex Sentences Put Under Review • Do Punishments Reflect the Seriousness of the Crime? • The Chief Justice Has Ordered a Review of Sentencing
News, Uncategorized | March 8, 2013
Bermuda’s top judge has ordered a review of sentencing policy in child sex abuse cases. Chief Justice Ian Kawaley disclosed the move after concern was expressed by children’s rights advocates that some sentences do not reflect the gravity of offences. Jon Brunson of SCARS, which tackles child sex abuse, and Sheelagh Cooper of the Coalition for the Protection of Children, united to criticise ... Read more
CHILD ABUSE REPORT: ‘Judges Need Special Training’
News | March 8, 2013
Child sex abuse awareness training should be mandatory for judges and magistrates, a child protection charity said this week. Jon Brunson, executive director of SCARS, a body that works to prevent of child sex abuse, was speaking after Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner handed out a suspended sentence to a man who admitted having sex with a 14-year-old girl (see reference in story above). Mr Bru... Read more
Walk Raises Over $33,000 For 118 Charities
News | March 5, 2013
1,235 people turned up for the Argus Walks the Walk with The Centre on Philanthropy Charity 5K that took place on Sunday, February 24, the most ever in the four-year-old event. The $33,740 raised and 118 charities representing a myriad of causes were also all-time highs for this unique fundraiser where participants chose which charity received their entry fee as a donation. Argus Walks the Wal... Read more