Cape Town - The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital said it has seen a steady flow of children coming through the facility that have been victims of abuse, neglect and violence, even during the lockdown period.
The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH) in Cape Town has cautioned against child abuse as the country enters into the 2020 National Child Protection Week. National Child Protection Week, 29 May – 5 June 2020, is commemorated in the country annually to raise awareness of the rights of children as articulated in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and Children's Act.
Since the start of January, the RCWMCH has seen 226 cases of child abuse, neglect and/or violence (up to 15 May 2020).
Head of Social Work at the hospital, Carla Brown said: “It’s too early to tell if there has been an increase in child abuse and neglect cases during lockdown.”
“As a tertiary hospital, we usually see the worst cases of abuse and violence against children here and during the lockdown we know this hasn’t necessarily decreased.”
The table below indicates the Child Abuse cases presenting at RCWMCH per month:
-
January - 68
-
February - 34
-
March - 46
-
April - 48
-
May (up to 15 May) - 30
The hospital said it has seen a steady flow of children coming through the facility that have been victims of abuse, neglect and violence, even during the lockdown period.
“We have to take a hard stand for the vulnerable in our society. We call on everyone who witnesses or suspects child neglect, and / or violence against children, to please step forward and report the cases,” said Dwayne Evans, spokesperson for the RCWMCH.
“The Constitution of South Africa has made Children’s Rights a priority. Children have a right to be protected and nurtured. All of us have the responsibility to do our part in ensuring the best interest of the child. The Hospital urges all adults to be advocates for children around them,” said Dr Anita Parbhoo, medical manager.
The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Western Cape Government Health have also welcomed the appointment of the Children's Commissioner for the Western Cape, Christina Nomdo. The role of the Children’s Commissioner is to give children a voice, and to explore how they experience poverty, crime and neglect, amongst others, and how these experiences impact children.
Nomdo previously said that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant lockdown on children will be top of the list of urgent priorities for her office.
“I am currently leading an initiative that connects with children in all the provinces to directly hear from them about their understanding of the pandemic and experiences of lockdown in order to feed their inputs to the government and other decision-makers,” she said.
Nomdo said it was vital to record how many children have been infected with the virus, the means of infection, and track their health outcomes.
Cape Argus