SA child homicide rate double global average

SOUTH AFRICA’S estimated rate of child homicide ismore than double the global average, says a study published in the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Bulletin in August.

In 2009, 5.5 per 100 000 children under 18 were killed. This is double the WHO estimate of 2.4 child homicides per 100 000, but is closer to those of other sub-Saharan countries.

The samples were from South Africa’s state-run mortuaries between January and December 2009. The WHO conducted a retrospective study based on female and child homicide cases.

Titled “the epidemiology of child homicides in South Africa”, it is the first such study in South Africa.

Of 1 018 children killed in 2009, most were boys. The authors also said South Africa was in desperate need of policies that adequately addressed the problem of male teenage violence.

Child abuse and neglect were found to be related in three-quarters of all girl homicides. Overall, most homicides involving children under 18 were in public spaces (45.9 percent) or in the child’s own home (34 percent) and girls were more likely to be killed at home than boys (44 percent versus 28 percent),

The study also found that nearly half the murdered children were cared for by a single mother (43 percent) while 29.8 percent were cared for by both parents, 35.5 percent were killed by someone they knew and nearly a third (30 percent) were killed by their mothers.

The study found that stab wounds and blunt force trauma were found to be the cause of death in more than half the cases looked at. Stab wounds were more common as the cause of death among boys than girls, whereas infant abandonment was the most common among girls.

There was a high rate of child homicides involving sexual assault. This reflects the high prevalence of sexual violence in the country.

Previous studies have shown that even in settings where poverty is not prevalent, child abuse cannot be prevented. The problems were also found in other African countries. Researchers also came to the conclusion that the high rate reflected the country’s very high general homicide rate as well as children’s vulnerable position in society.