Save the Children SA calls for a stop to the molestation of children
ALEXANDRA – Save the Children South Africa has called on citizens to take proactive steps to end violence against women and children.
South Africa has been described as the worst country in which to raise children, with the highest child homicide rate in Africa and outside Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Gugu Ndebele, CEO of Save the Children South Africa called on South Africans to stop being reactionary and to take proactive measures to stop the molestation of women and children.
“We need to stop being reactionary. Our emotions flare up when we hear these horrific reports of gender-based violence and brutal attacks on our children – as they should – but then we go back to our daily lives.
“We need to invest in preventing these incidents from taking place, protect our children and reclaim their childhood. We have comfortably reduced the lives of children and women to hashtags instead of taking action,” said Ndebele, who was part of a delegation to Alex.
Late last year, Save the Children South Africa embarked on a mission to prioritise ending violence against children. The five-year strategy was born out of a costing study, which revealed that the country loses R238 billion in GDP each year as a result of violence against children.
“It is our resolve that by the end of our five-year crusade violence against children will be viewed as the loathsome and abhorrent thing that it is. It is the right of every last child to grow, to develop and learn in an environment that is free from violence. This is a programme that will not just impact the current generation but generations to come.”
According to the WHO’s 2012 and 2015 estimates, the annual number of child homicides in South Africa has fallen by over 1 000 (from 3 300 in the early 2000s to 1 900 in 2015). The child homicide rates have declined by 46 per cent, from 16 homicides per 100 000 children and youth aged 0 to19 years to nine per 100 000.
Read: Men and women take a stand against women and child abuse
And yet, even with this progress, South Africa still has the highest child homicide rate in Africa and, in fact, anywhere outside of Latin America and the Caribbean.
“In 2015, the world made a promise that by 2030, all children would be in school, protected and healthy, regardless of who they are or where they live. Although this is an ambitious target, it is within reach if governments invest in all children to guarantee they have the full childhood they deserve.”
In line with its Every Last Child campaign, Save the Children South Africa is calling on governments to ensure that no child dies from preventable or treatable causes or is subjected to extreme violence, is robbed of a future as a result of malnutrition or early pregnancy and that they have access to a quality education.
Details: www.savethechildren.org.za
