The startling claim was made last week by a Canadian expert who is helping Bermuda's child abuse probe.

Said Mr. Robert Croezen: "There is a feeling we tend not to take the rights of children to be parented effectively as seriously as we might.

"Children's rights seem to be globally almost a second thought.'' Mr. Croezen is a training specialist from the Toronto-based Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

He is teaching 14 Policemen and seven Department of Social Services workers how to handle child abuse investigations.

The six-month course is being run at the Police HQ at Prospect.

Mr. Croezen told The Royal Gazette statistics in Canada highlighted the size of the problem.

With children under 18, one in four girls, and one in seven boys, had been subjected to abuse.

And 25 percent of such abuse had been committed by relatives.

In the United States, 25 to 38 percent of girls under 18 had experienced abuse. The figure for boys was as high as 30 percent.

"Child sexual abuse is still very much a closet, secret type of crime,'' said Mr. Croezen.

"Probably the majority of victims never come forward.'' Mr. Croezen said experts were moving away from the long-held belief that most abusers had been victims.

"Figures show that in only about a third of cases is that true, but quite honestly we still don't know.

"Some believe the increased sexuality of children is brought on by the media, films and advertising.

"Others think there is more of a willingness by children to come forward.'' Mr. Croezen, involved in child abuse work for 14 years, said much of the training would focus on interviewing alleged victims.

In particular, it would concentrate on questioning children of pre-school age.

"Such children might have a high degree of language development, and may be able to describe their experience.

"Others might need some type of interviewing aids. These could include free-style drawing, hand puppets, or doll figurines. Occasionally the anatomy of adults might be used.

"If a child's language development is limited he may be able to show what has been happening.'' Mr. Croezen said interviewers had to learn to be sensitive without being suggestive.

They had to make sure they elicited valid information.

Last week, for instance, video tapes had been taken of his students' mock interviews.

Children from local high schools had played the role of victims.

"We analyse the interviews and see where techniques could be improved.'' Mr. Croezen underlined changes in Canada's laws which had helped the fight against child abuse -- and from which Bermuda could learn.

Canada's Evidence Act, for instance, had been altered to make it easier for children to give testimony in criminal proceedings.

"Our test is the child's ability to communicate the evidence, whereas before there was a higher test.

"If the child has the ability to communicate and promise to tell the truth he can testify.

"The judges will still require other evidence to back up the testimony.'' Mr. Croezen said Canada also accepted the video-taping of children's testimony.

"The child still has to be available for cross-examination.'' He added: "We now have cases where children as young as three and three-and-a-half have been allowed to testify.'' Mr. Robert Croezen.