10 590 children raped… and most cases go unreported – what are you doing?
As National Child Protection Week continues, the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development urges communities to speak out and report child sexual abuse cases.
Portfolio Committee on Social Development chairperson Bridget Masango has called on every South African to play their part in protecting children from sexual abuse and violence.
National Child Protection Week, which runs from 29 May 29 to June 5 under the theme: Working Together to End Violence Against Children, comes as the committee said the country can no longer look away while children are abused by people they know and trust.
In the 2022/2023 financial year, more than 43 000 rape cases were recorded, with about 10 590 involving children under 18.
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Research shows fewer than 4% of rape survivors report their abuse to police, while only 8.6% of cases that reach court end in a guilty verdict.
In 2020 alone, nearly 700 babies were born to girls aged just nine and 10 years old.
South African law already places a legal duty on adults to report child sexual abuse.
Section 54 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act makes it a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years in prison, for anyone who knows about a sexual offence against a child and fails to report it.
Section 110 of the Children’s Act also requires teachers, nurses, doctors, religious leaders and social workers to report any reasonable suspicion of abuse. Yet many cases still go unreported.
A Unicef-supported study found that children are increasingly targeted through social media platforms such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
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Many are manipulated, blackmailed or pressured into sharing sexual images. More than half (55%) of children who received unwanted sexual requests online told no one about their experience.
Only 1% reported the abuse to the police or social workers.
The committee has proposed several interventions, including daily public updates on child sexual abuse statistics, a confidential online reporting system shared across government departments, stronger accountability for professionals who fail to report abuse, greater support for boy children and male victims, partnerships with traditional leaders to challenge harmful cultural practices, and working with mining companies and other industries to fund social workers in communities where abuse is widespread.
Five parliamentary portfolio committees are also developing a joint programme to tackle statutory rape and examine whether mandatory reporting laws should be strengthened.
The committee urges communities across the country to speak out, report abuse and work together to end violence against children.
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