CHILD ABUSE A CRITICAL CHALLENGE

VIOLENCE, abuse and gender-based violence against children remain a critical challenge for South Africa.

The latest SAPS annual crime statistics, covering the period April

2019 to March 2020, revealed that

17 118 children were raped during that financial year, a decrease of almost 8% from the previous financial year.

The statistics further revealed that 22 070 sexual offences against children cases were reported, with 3 727 sexual assaulted cases recorded, 639 contact sexual offences cases reported and a 4.3% increase in attempted rape cases with 586 cases recorded.

A UBS Optimus study, published in 2016, showed that between 18 000 and 20 000 child sexual abuse cases are reported to the police every year in South Africa. The report added that most child sexual abuse cases are not reported, and estimated that the underreporting ranges from one in nine to one in 13 cases being reported to the police.

More recently, Gauteng City-Region Observatory’s director of research strategy, Graeme Gotz, said 66% of respondents from the Quality of Life Survey 6 (2020/21) experienced some kind of abuse when they were children, with 65% experiencing physical abuse and 11% experiencing sexual abuse.