Call not to turn a blind eye to child abuse or neglect

Non-profit child protection organisation, Women and Men Against Child Abuse, is urging South Africans not to turn a blind eye when they suspect that a child is abused or neglected but should contact the police and the Department of Social Development.

The organisation is reacting to the case of a 32-year-old woman who is on trial for alleged human trafficking; conspiracy to commit robbery and making a false statement to the police.

She is accused of selling her 2-year-old son to unidentified individuals.

[ALLEGEDLY SOLD A CHILD] A woman appeared today in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court on charges of human trafficking, conspiracy to commit robbery, and making a false statement to the police. The charges stem from allegations that, she sold her son to unidentified individuals. https://t.co/vU22xWrPNs

— South African Criminal Justice System (@RSA_CJS) November 25, 2024

This horror case is among a string of others that involve parents, who have committed crimes against their offspring.

Crime in South Africa🇿🇦

Stolen Childhoods💔🧸💔

A 38-year-old mother from the East Rand stands accused of sex trafficking her 12- and 13-year-old daughters.

The mother allegedly sold her 13-year-old daughter to a 35-year-old lawyer for R160000 so that he could have sex with… pic.twitter.com/exR1Ri2nXp

— Bianca van Wyk (@BiancavanWyk16) October 27, 2024

Women and Men Against Child Abuse’s head of advocacy, Luke Lamprecht, says society needs to stand together and ensure that children are protected at all times.

Lamprecht believes that children who are usually murdered or trafficked by their parents were either not wanted or planned for.

He says these types of parents hardly have any emotional attachment to their child, hence it becomes easy for them to discard them for money.

Non-governmental organisation, Sonke Gender Justice’s co-executive director, Bafana Khumalo, has also opined, saying these cases are not isolated.

According to Khumalo, several reasons contribute to parents trafficking their children.

He cited poverty and an attempt to make a quick buck to help a family in a dire economic situation as some of the reasons for such actions.

“This may be related to human trafficking. This takes various forms. It might be for sexual exploitation as we have seen in recent cases. But this may also be related to organ exploitation. In all the above this is a cruel thing to do to children. There can be no justification for an adult to take such a decision that places the life of a child in a vulnerable situation.”

“We do hope and pray that this child will be found soon and unharmed. We call on members of the community to work with the authorities and help in the location of this child.”

Khumalo says the violence against children in the country is concerning.

“The report on crime statistics by the Minister of Police points to a serious rate of crimes against children. We have to redouble our efforts as a community to help turn the tide against these crimes.”

According to the second-quarter crime statistics released yesterday, murders of children, both boys and girls, went up by 7.5 %, and attempted murder against them increased by 35.7% during July and September this year.