Behind the Walls of Silence, 50 mins, 2012 (Ref:
796)
A shocking film
showing the abuse of children in Jordan’s care
homes. An 11-month undercover investigation for BBC
Arabic exposes a horrific series of abuses of
children with mental and physical illnesses – some
as young as seven or eight – that includes sexual
abuse, beatings, insults and swearing by many of
their supposed carers. King Abdullah II responded to
the programme by ordering an inquiry. In the film, a
member of staff at one centre is seen telling
colleagues how he covered and jumped on a child and
"thought he was dead" when trying to get him to go
to sleep. It is common for wealthy parents from
across the Middle East to send children to Jordan
for treatment. We also found that eight of 54 such
homes are facing private actions against them for
the abuse of children.
