Scars of child abuse permanently disabling

WHEN a child is abused the emotional scars are permanent and will affect how the survivor forms relationships as an adult.

This is according to children’s rights activist Alvin Brijlal, who spoke about his experiences with abuse victims in light of the spate of child abuse cases in the country.

Brijlal, the head of VOICE, a victim outreach centre in Phoenix, said no amount of therapy could make up for the damage of abuse.

Out of the 18.5 million children in South Africa, about 20% to 34% of them experience some form of contact violence before the age of 18, according to a recent study conducted by the Children’s Institute.

This translates to between 3.7m and 6.3m children, meaning almost one in three children suffer physical violence, which includes rape, assault, stabbing, beating, breaking of bones and burning.

In a class of 30, this would mean at least 10 children experience this type of violence.

Brijlal said the emotional trauma of such abuse never went away and gave an example of a rape survivor he met recently.

“She came up to me and introduced herself, saying that when she was 14 I had counselled her. She is now 28 and going through a divorce because the trauma of her childhood affected her marriage,” said Brijlal, who has been at the helm at VOICE for 14 years.

“Many people go through similar situations. They struggle to let their guard down and have difficulty trusting again because the people they once trusted hurt them in the worst way.”

He said he personally dealt with seven to eight abuse cases a month from Durban and around the country, and at times cried when they shared their stories with him.

“A recent case was when an uncle raped his two nieces. They were sisters, who slept in the same room with him. When we did a roadshow at their school the children told us what was going on. They were only seven and eight and this had been going on for years.”

He said the uncle was arrested by the Child Protection Unit.

He spoke of another case where a school principal had called him to report the abuse of a 12-year-old girl.

“Her father instructed her to do chores and if she failed to do them correctly he poked pins into her cheeks and thighs. If she cried, he would press the pins deeper. I removed the child with no assistance from social services.”

Settle

He said the father was arrested and the child was left with the mother, who later decided to settle the matter and reunite with him because he stopped the abuse.

Brijlal said another case of rape was at a school residence for the disabled.

“An older pupil had been raping a younger pupil. The principal tried to cover it up but a teacher came forward with the information.”

The Department of Education is handling the matter.

He encouraged parents to not be too trusting of others.

“Look out for the signs. Your child will become either reserved or problematic. They can become suicidal or live in a zombie state. They also develop problems with trust.”

He added that parents also needed to be aware of where their children were, who they spend time with and who they communicate with. “And never allow your child to sleep with an adult.”

VOICE has 15 volunteers and they help abused victims get the help they need.

“All cases are referred to the Department of Social Development and the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital. We make sure that when a case is opened, it is followed up, and if it is not we bring in the investigating officer for accountability.”

Brijlal was instrumental in the arrest of a mother and her boyfriend in the highly publicised case of Baby G. The Phoenix woman and her boyfriend were charged with attempted murder following the brutal beating of her four-year-old daughter. A two-minute video of the abuse was allegedly recorded by the boyfriend and it went viral on social media.

“We listen to their case and decide whether it needs to be looked at by the National Prosecuting Authority or social workers. We direct it to the right body and follow up to make sure the case is seen to.”

And while there are a high number of cases in South Africa, Phoenix, Chatsworth and areas south of Durban are said to have the highest cases in KZN and the second highest in the country.

A Phoenix father recently pleaded guilty to strangling his 7-year-old son to death just to get back at his wife.

A Chatsworth mother was also at the Durban High Court for allegedly killing her 3-yearold daughter four years ago.

And two Verulam men were arrested in two separate cases of rape this year. One was alleged to have raped his 10-year-old daughter 900 times, while the other was an uncle of a 7-year-old girl who was allegedly caught raping her at a family home.

Statistics South Africa revealed that KZN and the Eastern Cape have the worst cases of abuse, with only 19% of them referred to the police by social services. In turn, the police only referred 8% of such cases to social services.

Paula Barnard, the national director of World Vision, reported that the country was dealing with an inadequate system, with a lack of collaboration between social services and the police.

Jackie Branfield, from the human rights NGO Bobbi Bear, added that the Department of Social Development needed to be more efficient.

She claimed that while tests conducted on child victims of sexual abuse were supposed to be sent to the forensic laboratory within seven days, it was sometimes left for close to 18 months.

Identification

The SA Children’s Institute pointed out that early identification of abuse and referral to tailored support programmes could prevent more severe forms of abuse, including fatal child abuse.

Stefanie Röhrs, a senior researcher, said forms of discipline should also be looked at.

“Giving up physical punishment does not mean giving up discipline. Parents and caregivers can use positive discipline to teach their children about boundaries and right and wrong.

“The government needs to step in here and raise awareness about the negative effects of physical punishment and how to use positive discipline.”