Fashionable causes cut lifeline to abused children
REPORTS surfaced earlier this week that Childline KZN, an organisation with a 25-year history of providing an essential, independent support service to abused and vulnerable children in the province, might be forced to terminate its toll-free telephone service.
This emerged in the light of an announcement that funding has reached a new low, with no National Lottery funds received for the current year. Other donor sources had also been harder to tap recently, said Childline Director Linda Naidoo.
Factors that appear to affect donations include a national focus on “fashionable” causes, and widescale denialism of the fact that violence against women and children knows no social barriers.
Thora Mansfield, founder and director of the Open Door Crisis Centre, which deals with, among other serious social ills, human trafficking, HIV/Aids, substance and sexual abuse and the abuse of children, said that it would be “an incalculable loss” if Childline had to terminate its crisis line.
“Childline SA is without a doubt the most reliable outreach organisation we have,” she said. “It plays a major role in highlighting, and alleviating, the worst violations against the most vulnerable sector of our society.
“It is a tragedy of our times that it is so hard to raise money for causes that are closest to home. It is far easier to get people to dig into their pockets to save the rhinos’ lives than those of our children.”
Mansfield said that abuse and neglect of the young was a growing problem in South Africa, and KZN had more than its share.
“I have a staff of 21, including educationists, psychologists, social workers and a host of volunteers, and we have our hands full constantly. It is always hard to find the money needed for this essential work. People simply don’t want to recognise that abuse and the violation of human rights can happen in any context.”
Carrie Shelver is national coordinator of the 1 in 9 campaign against sexual violence. She has also worked intensively with People Opposing Women Abuse (Powa). Shelver said that it was important to realise that donor funding was not without its political agendas.
“We see that when funding channels (like those for the Save the Rhino campaign) are linked to foreign governments and foreign capital, they are very often an accurate reflection of political priorities. It is not a coincidence that organisations like Childline, that work towards challenging patriarchal mindsets, have trouble accessing funding.”
Shelver said this was combined with a public mindset that the government had taken on the responsibility for funding programmes aimed at protecting the rights of women and children.
“This is a very problematic assumption, because of course our government has emphatically not met its mandate of protecting the rights of these vulnerable sectors of the population.”
She added that most people were prone to assume that “the other” was responsible for unpalatable crimes. “We must not underestimate the role that poverty – both financial and intellectual deprivation – plays in these crimes, but we also need to acknowledge that all of us can potentially be victims, or perpetrators.”
Naidoo has come out fighting, saying she is not prepared to curtail Childline’s service. It costs about R100 000 a month to run the crisis call line service, and R70 000 is needed to keep it afloat until the end of the year.
“We simply cannot leave children without any recourse,” she said. “Next to the police 10111 number, Childline is the most frequently dialled in KZN. We deal not only with children in need, but their entire families. Our database is invaluable for the government as a barometer of what the real burning points are in society.”
Naidoo said donors had always been good to the association, and they would be appealing to an even wider potential support base to keep the phone lines open.
“Lots of wealthy people don’t dig deeply enough into their pockets, and there tends to be an assumption that abuse does not happen in affluent, educated families. That myth must be dispelled.”
She said many children took time to build up enough trust to reveal their fears and pain to Childline’s workers.
“They might call again and again before they can finally open up, but they know we are there. Sometimes there is no one else to turn to. We are their link to a safer, more empowered life.”
To help save the crisis line, the Oyster Box is hosting a fine dining evening for a limited number of guests on Friday. Tickets at R1 500 may be purchased by dialling 031 303 1788.
Head chef Kevin Joseph will be joined by celebrity chef Justin Bonello to present demonstrations and sumptuous food. There will also be an auction.
One of the prizes is an exclusive dinner for eight in the Oyster Box cellar, complete with fine wines, all to the value of R15 000.
Visit Childline’s website at www.childlinekzn.org.za to pledge donations, or call them at 031 312 0904.