WATCH: Villa Liza children march against abuse
School-going age children are deprived of education and many do not even have birth certificates.
A group of placard-wielding children marched through the streets of Villa Liza and Dawn Park on April 4 to highlight rising levels of child abuse in the township.
The awareness initiative on child protection was organised by the Boksburg Child Welfare, in conjunction with the Villa Liza-based Philasande Crèche.
The youngsters also paid a visit to the Dawn Park Police Station where they requested law enforcement authorities to step up their efforts to tackle the reported series of child abuse cases.
According to child welfare social auxiliary worker Grammah Mlangeni, child abuse has been plaguing the community for a long time now. Hence, they decided to raise awareness about the social ills that have driven many children and families to despair.
She said among the social ills that affect children in the area are sexual abuse, physical, psychological and emotional abuse, and child neglect where children are left to fend for themselves or locked in the house while their parents (mostly young mothers) go gallivanting around taverns.
Many school-going age children are reportedly deprived of education, and many other do not even have birth certificates.
“We had children who were burnt inside houses because they were left on their own by parents.
“We have children who go to school on an empty stomach, yet their parents or guardians are collecting child support grants or child maintenance money from the other parent and then using it for their needs.
“When we and the teachers intervene, some of the parents, mostly young women who gave birth while they were still very young, become aggressive towards us.
“We handle these issues and cases are reported to the police, but they would say go and talk to the family members.
“Children are sexually abused, others are killed and the perpetrators are not brought to book. As we are often told, there is not enough evidence to continue with the case.
“The abused children will have a life filled with trauma. That’s why many children grow up angry, and they tend to bully others at school because of what they are going through at home.
“We deal with these issues daily, receiving about 30 cases monthly. The escalating number of incidents and cases that remain unresolved also leave us grief-stricken. That’s why we took the group of children to the police station as our way of crying out for help.”
Mlangeni said among the main identified contributing factors is that some of the parents’ bad behaviour is influenced by their harsh upbringing, substance abuse, and dysfunctional family structures that are characterised by poor parenting, poverty, and illiteracy.
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