Kagcisham brings sexual assault awareness to the children
In a country where child sexual abuse cases are prevalent, the importance of this information in this article cannot be overlooked.
Keep A Girl Child In School Happy and Motivated (Kagcisham) held a sexual abuse awareness campaign at Protea South Primary School on August 31.
The sexual abuse awareness campaign saw the children get important tips and information on when to know you have been sexually abused or when you are being groomed for sexual abuse.
Educational psychologist, Dr Thandiwe Nhlapo explained to the pupils that the perpetrators sometimes prepare children for sexual abuse by giving them money or incentives.
“They’ll give you sweets and tell you that you have a secret that you have to share between the two of you. At that point in time, they are preparing you and you find that most of the time those are people you know and are close to,” said Dr Nhlapo during her address to the pupils.
Dr Nhlapo further encouraged the children to start using biological terms to refer to their reproductive organs so as to divorce themselves from the socially constructed meanings other words referring to reproductive organs have come to take on.
“We have a tendency, culturally, to call private parts with other words other than the actual word. Psychologically it affects us, we call our head a head, we don’t call it anything else. When we start using the correct words we will be able to say somebody has touched my [private parts] and it’s not supposed to be like that,” Dr Nhlapo elaborated.
The Protea South Primary School Kagcisham beneficiaries performed a play which highlighted the plight of child sexual abuse that happens in homes with sometimes, the child’s father being the perpetrator.
The play aimed to educate and bring awareness in a way the children could relate to according to Kagcisham founder, Amelia Zulu.
Warrant Officer Prince Gumede from Protea Glen SAPS’ Child Protection Unit furthermore offered the children tips on how to keep themselves as safe as they possibly can.
Earlier this year, the Democratic Alliance (DA) released statistics in Parliament which show that at least 41% of all rape cases reported in the last three years involved children and that 2600 children were murdered during the same period.
In a country where child sexual abuse cases are prevalent, the importance of such information cannot be overlooked. Warrant Officer Gumede recommended that the children take the following safety precautions:
1. Don’t walk in open spaces alone when you are going to school, rather wait for the other children;
2. Don’t get into a taxi when there is no one else in the taxi;
3. Avoid going out after dark;
4. Don’t talk to strangers or take anything from people you don’t know Warrant Officer Gumede also encouraged the children to break the culture of silence and speak up when something happened to them.
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