Three out of five children are raped
Most rapes are committed by family members.
PROTECT your children well.
The message was drummed home at the launch of Child Protection Week at Give a Child a Family on Tuesday, after shocking statistics were revealed that three out of five children become victims of rape in the Ugu District.
Last Thursday a seven-year-old girl was raped by her grandfather at Clear Water Farm in Izingolweni Road. According to the police report, the child was playing with her four-year-old cousin when her mother realised that she was missing.
“When the mother asked the cousin where her daughter was, she said she had left with her grandfather,” explained police spokesman Captain Gerald Mfeka.
He added that the mother then went to the grandfather’s room where she found him with the girl.
Kanagee Chetty, a social worker from Margate Child Welfare said: “We deal with a lot of rape cases. The sad part is that more of these rapes are happening within the family.”
She said it was Child Welfare’s duty to ensure that children were removed from abusive families. They needed counselling and to be placed with people who would love them in a safe environment.
She advised parents to educate their children from an early age about rape and to ensure that they were always safe.
Nomvuyi Sukuntaka, the director of development training at GCF, said they also helped to find homes for abused and abandoned children. “We ensure that the children receive counselling and are reunited with their family or are placed with foster parents,” she said.
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