East Rand teachers, parents and children can now easily report cases of abuse, violence or related issues using the 24-hour East Rand Child Protection Hotline.
The hotline, which seeks to promote child safety and bring hope to victims, was launched in Boksburg on October 20 at Kingfisher Corner, Sunward Park.
This is the 13th Child Protection Hotline to be established in South Africa.
Representatives from various organisations, including Benoni Family Focus Law and Mediation, Adv Lindi Kinghorn and Touch of Hope, who will all work closely with the East Rand Child Protection Hotline, attended the launch.
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According to Danie van Loggerenberg, founder of the Child Protection Hotline, the hotline number is child-friendly and accessible via SMS, WhatsApp or calling.
Calls are free and there is no cost (excluding airtime and data) to contact the number via any of these platforms.
The hotline allows any child, teacher, parent or neighbour who knows of a child in need of care and protection to find help.
Van Loggerenberg explained that once a call or message is received they first assess the situation before contacting the relevant authorities.
“For example, if a child fell from a tree, we don’t contact the police or the Department of Social Development, we contact emergency services.
“If a child has been beaten or sexually abused, we phone the police.
“If neighbours have reported that a child has been crying for days, we contact the Department of Social Development because a social worker needs to investigate this,” van Loggerenberg said.
“Once the relevant authorities are informed and commence investigations, the hotline is no longer involved in the cases; we let them do their job.”
According to van Loggerenberg, more than 1 000 children have already benefited from this initiative through the national hotline.
“Recently, through the national hotline, we received tip-offs from schools about children being mistreated during lockdown,” he said.
Explaining how the introduction of the hotline came about, van Loggerenberg, who is also the founder of Toys for Africa, a project that provides toys and stationery to children in need, said while working with various schools he saw a need to start the hotline.
“We realised teachers, parents and children had questions and concerns regarding reporting child abuse. We also realised although the steps to report child abuse seem easy, they continued experiencing dead ends in reporting cases.
“This means children are not helped quickly enough and they continue to endure abuse or neglect.
“In bridging the gap, our hotlines help children to get help sooner rather than later,” van Loggerenberg said.
He highlighted that they visit schools to educate children about abuse, bullying and other related matters and how the hotline can help them.
Kingfisher Corner has been a sponsor of the hotlines for four years.
“We have sponsored the hotlines for the past four years because, as a mall, we want to see children safe,” said Kevin Hall, marketing executive at Kingfisher Corner.
“This is the reason we also partnered with the East Rand Child Protection Hotline,” Hall explained.
Parents, teachers and children are urged to save the hotline number (071 523 9215) on their phones or send an email to childprotection@toysforafrica.org.za for information or to report cases of child abuse.
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