The incidence of sexual assaults and violence against teenage girls are very alarming, Opposition Senator Gina Spence-Farmer said during the motion to adjourn in the Senate yesterday.

Continuing the heated debate that took place in the House of Assembly on Friday about fears for the safety of troubled children moving from King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) to the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute (MWI), Sen. Spence-Farmer revealed new statistics from the Women's Resource Centre about girls between 15- and 19-years-old.

"Eight percent of these young women, or five in the group, had a child between the age of two-years-old and younger," she said. "So, this is children having children."

Twenty-four percent of the girls had been sexually assaulted, 52 percent had suffered domestic violence and six percent had been harassed by an assailant or stalker, she said.

"These are all young girls living with relatives, who are still in school. We need to take a look at this," she said.

Sen. Spence-Farmer said the rise in abuse makes it unacceptable to move the KEMH troubled children into anything other than a purpose-built facility while parents of the KEMH children were upset, no one in the Ministry of Health and Family Services had spoken to them about the move to MWI.

"We all have a moral and ethical responsibility to see our children are safe and protected," Sen. Spence-Farmer said.

In reply, Government Senator Raymond Tannock said safety at MWI is not an issue and encouraged her to go there to see the first class renovations at the former St. Brendan's mental hospital.

Government Senate Leader Larry Mussenden added when he was a prosecutor and defence lawyer he saw child abuse was an ugly situation because it often took place by adults with legal access to the child.