Toys for Africa, an non-profit organisation that advocates for child protection, has launched a child protection hotline to help vulnerable children report cases of abuse and neglect.
All over the world, children’s rights have been violated by family members, strangers and even their peers. Danie van Loggerenberg, the founder of Toys for Africa, is, with the help of the police, now on a mission to ensure that no child abuse goes unreported.
Working with Honeydew Police Social Crime Unit, Danie has launched regional contact numbers, including one for the West Rand and the national number, which he believes will be effective in dealing with the scourge. The launch took place on Tuesday, 29 October at Featherbrooke Village Shopping Centre in Ruimsig, where the starter pack was unsealed.
Danie explained how the need to launch the hotline number came about. “Toys for Africa does a lot of child protection projects at schools, and is in communication with the teachers, principals and learners themselves. One of the main questions they ask is how do they report child abuse and neglect, and how do they go about trying to get help,” he explained.
“The hotline was born out of the need for a child-friendly communication and assistance system,” he added, pointing out that the existing hotline numbers weren’t particularly productive, according to his sources.
Danie elaborated on how the number will be operated. “The child will be able to send an SMS or a WhatsApp message with word HELP. We will then call the child and find out all the necessary details such as names and addresses which we will then forward to the relevant police station,” he explained, clarifying that they won’t be involved in the investigation processes.
He also explained why they decided to have area specific numbers. “If I get a complaint coming from , for example, Ruimsig, I will know which police station to escalate the matter to,” he said, adding that the use of one number would prolong the response period.
Since children can be naughty and decide to abuse the number, Danie said the type of questions they ask the children will determine whether it’s a true or false call.
The partnering station on the West Rand, Honeydew Police Station, gave this project the thumbs up. “With the number of incidents relating to children, especially in schools, we are happy to be part of the project. It is individuals like these that tend to step up to the plate and set up initiatives to help resolve the issues,” said Captain Balan Muthan, the spokesperson for the station.
“Making this number available to the children will help to keep the necessary stakeholders informed. They will in turn inform the police and then an investigation will be initiated, resulting in action being taken against the perpetrator,” .
Kevin Hall, marketing executive for Featherbrooke Village, weighed in about their partnership on this cause. “A lot has been said in the news about child protection, so we decided to become part of this initiative because we wanted to make sure that our valued patrons and their children always feel safe at the centre and in the community,” he explained.
The child protection hotline number is 060 819 3897 (also available on WhatsApp) or email: westrand@toysforafrica.org.za.
