Pupils of Monica Lolwane Educare Centre in Protea North held a march on International Children’s Day to bring awareness to the need to end abuses against children.
The march took place with the assistance of SAPS’ child protection unit and JMPD from Monica Lolwane Educare Centre to Protea Point shopping complex. The children had a mini memorandum which stated the need for violence and the trafficking of children to stop.
The Educare centre’s principal, Refiloe Gabahlole, noted how society has normalised violence: “We wanted to raise awareness against violence against children and their trafficking. The way our society is that things that aren’t normal now seem normal, it’s something people have learned to live with,” she said.
She further explained the long-lasting impact abuse can have on children, “We forget that abuse has long-lasting effects on the child’s life, it makes the child’s confidence low in an unbelievable way even when they have grown and their performance at school also drops.”
Statistics recently revealed in Parliament state that 41% of rape cases reported during the 2015-2018 period involved children and that over 2600 children were murdered within the same period. These alarming statistics show the need to rethink our child protection strategies if there are any in place.
A parent at the Educare centre, Nomthandazo Mncube, noted that our problem as a society we have moved away from the principles of Ubuntu.
“I think we should go back to the principle of ‘my child is your child and your child is mine’, I think from that we can begin to stop abuse against children.”
Lucky Maseko, chairperson of the Parents Service Committee (PSC) at Monica Lolwane Educare Centre, says the overall message of the march was for society to stand up and stop anything that has to do with abuse.
People, according to him, think physical and sexual violence are the only forms of abuse that can happen to children but emotional abuse is also rife.
Maseko said it was important for the community to come together and assist the police in tackling violence against children and crime as a whole.
“It’s impossible for police officers to be everywhere and to have two police officers attending to one person, this shows that the police need our help because they don’t have the resources,” he reiterated.
Follow Us Here:
Catch the latest news by visiting our other platforms:
