the fight against child abuse, it is claimed.

Anti-child abuse crusader Ms Sheelagh Cooper said the land could be used to build low cost housing for hard-up families, thus eliminating one of the suspected causes of abuse.

"Although child abuse crosses all economic lines, the stresses produced by poverty are such that children in poor and overcrowded living conditions, are at a substantially increased risk of being abused.'' Ms Cooper's comments come in her report on child abuse, Breaking the Cycle.

She recommends: A special planning committee be formed to see how the proposed Base closures could benefit children; The chairman of the committee be part of Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan's team reviewing the future of the Bases; and Moves by private businesses to exploit the Base land for their own interests be scrutinised.

Ms Cooper also calls for a review of housing needs for low income families.

In addition, she suggests a task force investigate poverty, and a lunch programme be set up to ensure schoolchildren are properly fed.

Co-chairperson of the Coalition for the Protection of Children, Ms Cooper states poverty, hunger and overcrowded living conditions are "direct assaults'' on the health and well-being of children.

"These are facts of life of a growing number of children in Bermuda,'' she writes.

"Few people are aware of the scores of children who arrive at school in the morning, having slept in an abandoned car, having had no breakfast and carrying no lunch, or children who live in such crowded and chaotic conditions that they arrive at school having had very little sleep and perhaps been exposed to one of the 1,500 violent domestic situations that occur annually in Bermuda.

"Economic policy and resource allocation have a profound effect on the cycle of poverty and therefore the cycle of abuse.

"A better future for the families most disconnected to this country's prosperity will require a change in the way Government chooses to allocate its resources, and an increase in the economic responsibility assumed by the private sector.'' Ms Cooper believes Bermuda has buried its head in the sand on abuse.

"Because of Bermuda's emphasis on tourism, there has always been a great reluctance to acknowledge or deal with the darker side of life in this wealthy community.

"It is important to take a much closer look at the impact of poverty on our children and begin to develop specific strategies to ameliorate conditions for the unemployed and working poor.'' Ms Cooper says the planned pull-out of the US military has opened up a host of opportunities, including new low cost housing.

"With due recognition of the need to avoid creating a low cost housing ghetto, with proper planning and subsidisation ensuring a variety of income groups, many of the homes could be offered for sale to people with marginal incomes who are otherwise destined to remain in overcrowded substandard housing conditions.''