Child protection hotline launched in Centurion to tackle abuse, neglect and bullying
“We work with amazing members from SAPS and we are privileged to have a good working relationship with the police officers at the various stations."
A 20th child protection hotline was launched in Erasmia and Laudium last week.
This was done in line with the continuous effort from the child protection hotline to reach as many communities as possible with their own hotlines.
Danie van Loggerenberg, the founder of the Child Protection Hotline, said that they were very excited about the hotline launch for Erasmia and Laudium.
“We get to work with people who are passionate about their community, but they are also passionate about children.
“This line was a needed addition to our hotlines and it was the 20th hotline we have launched.
“Unfortunately, no area can claim to be completely free of child abuse, child neglect and bullying. Looking at how busy our hotlines are, we realise daily that what we have started is only the start of what is needed,” Van Loggerenberg said.
Parents, teachers, children and anyone that needs to make use of the child protection hotline, can remember that excluding data and airtime costs, there are no charges to make use of the hotlines.
“We have dedicated women who answer phone calls and reply to the incoming requests.
The operators assist in all the official languages of South Africa and the service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The process is very simple and we will continue to make every available effort to make it even easier as time continues,” Van Loggerenberg said.
“Once any report of alleged child abuse, child neglect, bullying, trafficking or drug use reaches our call centre, the needed details are taken.
“We prefer to then respond with a standard set of questions sent to the person that reported alleged child abuse. This will confirm the details we have collected and includes basic questions about the name, surname, age, school and address of the child in need,” he said.
“Obviously, if there is a child in need of immediate intervention from SAPS, we handle the incoming information differently.
“Upon receiving the response to our questions, we assess where the information received should be sent. We work with amazing members from SAPS and we are privileged to have a good working relationship with the police officers at the various stations.
“We hope in the near future to get more schools to report child abuse they are aware of. Too many teachers share with us their frustrations on how they struggle to report child abuse. Not only within their school structures but after that through the correct channels. The system is broken and we need to help build it up to serve the children who are abused,” he said.
Van Loggerenberg said that child protection was something the entire community needed to take part in and education would ideally start at home.
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