Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital wants an end to child abuse

To mark the end of Child Protection Week, on June 5 Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital medical staff embarked on a march in the hospital.

Dr Efrat Barnes, director of the Teddy Bear Clinic at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, said that Child Protection Week must continue. “Child Protection Week needs to be transformed into 365 days of activism, awareness, and collaboration between various services to safeguard our most valuable. Making every conversation count was highlighted during this week, educating children, caregivers, guardians, and parents.”

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Barnes explained that the week started with an afternoon spent with the parents and children. “Representatives from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) came to speak, providing our parents with knowledge. Two brave mothers also spoke about their children’s journey with abuse, a brutally honest account of pain, anguish, and drive, to make sure that it didn’t happen in vain.”

Johannesburg Child Welfare (JCW) called for harsher punishments for perpetrators of child abuse, and more support for child protection centres. “With more than 26 000 cases of child abuse and neglect reported in the 2024/25 financial year, according to the Department of Social Development, it is high time that we emphasise more comprehensive approaches to strengthen children’s protective environments,” suggested Abubakr Hattas, CEO of JCW.

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Among the 26 852 cases of child abuse and neglect reported throughout the country, sexual abuse remains prevalent, with 9 859 cases reported across all nine provinces. Deliberate child neglect accounted for 9 485 cases and physical abuse accounted for 3 965, followed by abandonment, which accounted for 595 cases.

The justice system’s treatment of perpetrators of child abuse is also an under emphasised scrutiny. JCW emphasises that the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997 should provide for more severe sentences for schedule 6 crimes against children, rather than the current sentences of 10 to 15 years in prison.

Violence against children creates lifelong psychological wounds and trauma, which increases the likelihood of those children becoming future perpetrators and acting violently as adults.

Barnes added that, as part of the hospital’s tasks for the week, the team also embarked on a half-day workshop aimed at all professionals from the Gauteng cluster. With the assistance of generous donors, they were able to run an exceptional morning where many ethical questions were unpacked. “This was a remarkable opportunity to network and meet other professionals who fight abuse daily. The only way to win this war is by joining powers and dismantling the silos which separate us. The request for a formal congress, which addresses child protection, was born out of a fruitful day of engagement. Special awareness was drawn to the boy child, often forgotten and neglected, when we fight gender based violence (GBV) and assume that our sons are ‘safe’.”

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