On the last day of Child Month in Jamaica, hundreds of people laid wreaths in the Secret Gardens in downtown Kingston, Jamaica.

Each wreath honored a child affected by physical, sexual or mental violence.

“We all have a responsibility to protect our children. There [are] a number of children who [have] died under tragic circumstances and they could have been saved if a conscientious neighbour, who, on hearing the abuse of the child, would have reported this to the children’s registry or the police,” Eugene Kelly, Councillor for the Whitfield Town Division and speaker at the ceremony said.

A monument designed by Paul Napier sits in the center of the gardens and holds the names of approximately 450 Jamaican child-violence victims.

Quotes and information source:

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Child-victims-of-violence-remembered#ixzz2V54SjagS