Cape Town - The Children's Act must cater to the needs of disabled children in South Africa, as they are often the most at risk of being abused.
This according to André Kalis, specialist in advocacy, policy and children’s matters at the National Council of and for Persons with
Disabilities (NCPD), which said
children with disabilities were falling through the cracks of the South African childcare and protection system.
“An example of their heightened vulnerability is the fact that they are at least three times more likely to be abused and sexually molested than their non-disabled peers,” he said.
“There is nothing in the Children’s Act that compels the government to put an end to the range of rights
violations that children with disabilities are subjected to.”
He said the current Children’s Act did not enforce drastic action to
combat the extreme marginalisation and exclusion that children with
disabilities suffer.
“Worldwide, children with disabilities are recognised as the most vulnerable and exposed group in society. The Children’s Act, through determinations, should reflect the dire state in which these children find themselves.”
He said children with disabilities could be better integrated into society by realising their constitutional rights through the elimination of all the barriers that contributed to an unequal and non-inclusive society.
Spokesperson for the Department of Social Development (DSD) Joshua Chigome said that while there wasn’t yet an act governing disability, there was instead a White Paper, approved by the Cabinet on December 9, 2015.
DSD funds a few Early Childhood Development programmes to accommodate special needs into day-to-day service delivery and development efforts.
Chigome said DSD was in partnership with the NGO sector on advocacy and access to services and policy development to have disabilities recognised.
“As the population grows, our efforts will include increasing the bed spaces for children and adults with moderate and high support needs and intellectual disabilities, increasing subsidies to residential facilities for people with disabilities and expanding audits for universal access to buildings for people with disabilities,” he said.
@TheCapeArgus