Child Protection Week: Give children your unconditional support
Child Protection Week is celebrated every year in the last week of May to make people aware of children’s rights. Here’s how you can equip your children with safety skills.
“Always be there for your child. Listen to them and believe them when they talk about abuse,” Amanda de Swardt, who regularly assists SAPS and trauma victims in the area, advised parents.
Child Protection Week started yesterday and will be observed across the country until Tuesday. It aims to raise awareness of children’s rights by encouraging a variety of organisations and institutions to host events in the last week of May each year.
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One of the biggest child abuse problems De Swardt is currently dealing with is grooming for sexual abuse.
De Swardt said that it just takes a few minutes for the perpetrator to show his target pornographic material or start up a conversation with sexual undertones.
When a child is molested, mostly by a family member or close family friend, and then tell his or her parents, they often do not believe the perpetrator is guilty.
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Adults who suspect that a child in being abused in any way have an obligation to report this to a social worker or the police for investigation.
Victims of gender-based violence or abuse can get help at Childline SA on 0800-055-555 or the Department of Social Development’s 24-hour call centre on 0800-428-428.
Parents are also encouraged to teach their children safety rules for school and home:
- If they are being fetched, stay in the school premises until a parent arrives.
- If they walk home from school, walk in a group or stick to familiar roads.
- If they are home alone, never open the door for strangers, unless a parent has made an arrangement with the child personally.
- Ensure emergency numbers have been saved to the child’s phone or are pasted somewhere in the house.
- If someone tries to kidnap your child, scream and run inside a safe building like the school or a nearby shop. Immediately alert a teacher, police or security officer or trusted adult.
