WATCH: App launched for learners to report abuse
The app, which was developed by a Durban-based company, is a world first for reporting child abuse.
A NEW app designed by a former Child Protection Unit officer is set to change the way learners anonymously report any form of abuse levelled at them.
Speaking at the launch of the app today Marc Hardwick, of The Guardians Group said the app allows learners or adults to anonymously report physical or sexual abuse.
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Harwick said: “The system is set up to ensure only predetermined staff at schools that sign up can access these reports and the investigation is managed by a senior staff member using the technology.”
The staff, he said would never know the identity of the person who made the report but can ask them via the app for more information.
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In 2016, The University of Cape Town conducted a study on child sexual abuse which revealed that in excess of 125 000 children would have been abused by the age of 17.
This equates to about one in every three children being sexually abused. Childline SA estimates that only one in 10 cases are reported and internationally only one in seven cases are successfully prosecuted. The app goes directly to addressing that by placing in the hands of the investigator information that they potentially would never know and secondly potentially assist in reducing the time it will take to receive that information.
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