New 7-1-1- Hotline Launched

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – It is now easier than ever to report child abuse thanks to the new, easy-to-remember 7-1-1 hotline number just launched by the Ministry of Social Services.

Minister of Social Services, Obie Wilchcombe, says the tragic death of four-year-old Bella Walker was a heartbreaking wakeup call that the ministry needed to do more to help save children in similar situations.

While there are two existing seven-digit numbers for hotlines to report child abuse, the ministry, in partnership with BTC, have opened the new three-digit hotline, 7-1-1, in hopes that the shorter number will be easier for children and other members of the public to remember, making abuse easier to report.

The hotline is of no operational cost to the government, nor does it cost anything to those calling into the hotline.

The first child abuse hotline was introduced in 1997 by Algernon Allen but wasn’t a national hotline.

The new 7-1-1 hotline will be operational in every island there is a local social services office, with Wilchcombe stressing the importance of not neglecting the needs of children outside the capital.