We must pay attention to scourge of sexual abuse of schoolchildren
A commission of inquiry must be opened to investigate the issues more deeply, writes Khume Ramulifho
MANY parents take their children to school with the hope that the environment is safe and conducive for learning and teaching. Unfortunately, some teachers don’t think or behave like parents.
They don’t see pupils as children, but rather as possible sexual partners. They damage the teaching profession.
Even though teachers are aware that their code of conduct doesn’t allow them to do so, they still get involved with pupils in the belief that their actions will remain secret.
Due to skewed power relations, some pupils end up dropping out of school or falling pregnant as they can’t stand up to the perpetrators. Their future is destroyed instead of being supported and being nurtured.
Let’s face it, the scourge of sexual abuse in Gauteng classrooms must be probed extensively. Why do we only get to hear of cases which have been ongoing for years and in some cases decades now?
Communities in Gauteng have been shaken by sex scandal after sex scandal and it appears as though there are enough tears from parents, guardians and caretakers to fill up the Gauteng education department, the police stations or the premier’s office.
Surely the flood of heartbreak, despair and confusion is enough to get political office-bearers to leave their offices and fancy air-conditioned boardrooms and engage communities at grassroots level to support the thousands of child victims of sexual abuse.
Gauteng’s communities require support from the government to capacitate themselves in mobilising community-based child protection groups.
One of the important outcomes in establishing such community-based child protection groups is that it increases awareness among adults of their own responsibility for protecting children.
Political office-bearers seem preoccupied with making grand statements or issuing press releases on taking robust measures that will see perpetrators/sexpests behind bars. However, the reality is that these sexpests comfortably go to their homes while law enforcement takes a dragged-out course.
What about our little ones and what they must endure? Many have been destroyed and overcome by trauma, shame and fear.
I understand that sexual abuse transcends the classroom and that neither socio-economic background nor race, age or gender can protect against the havoc and damage inflicted by sexual abuse. But that’s where communities must step in and protect the most vulnerable children.
I am concerned as a parent and as a public representative that we are not looking closely enough at securing better futures for our little loved ones.
We are all guilty of largely focusing our attention on the monster who violated our children, rather than the victims and the legacy they live with.
The current public debate narrowly focuses on ensuring that a “sexpest” is sentenced and spends a fair amount of time in prison for the heinous crime committed.
I write this with the hope that we will pay more attention to our children who have become statistics of sexual abuse or grooming. Let’s be frank and talk about the treatment our children will need to undergo for the trauma.
Research shows child victims undergo an unfathomable amount of stress and will likely suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. The impact of the events in sexual abuse itself, sexual exposure, coercion, denigration and trust violation is further compounded by a series of abuse-related events, such as family dysfunction, increased social isolation of the victim and negative or unsupportive reactions to their attempts at disclosure with others.
The negative effects of child sexual abuse are reported to follow the victims into adulthood and their subsequent adult relationships.
There are physical, behavioural, emotional and educational indicators of child sexual abuse. According to a study by leading psychologists, multiple factors cause teachers to sexually abuse pupils.
These include the poverty of pupils and the lust, abuse of power and disregard of the law by teachers.
Treatment of sexual abuse victims must be multidimensional and not only focus on the psychological or social worker interventions, but include community-based protection groups, support from law enforcement officials and the government.
We must become more victim-focused to protect our children and their future.
Law enforcement must operate efficiently and effectively in terms of case assessment, response and case management.
Besides their mandated reporting role, teachers play an important part in this integrated system of child protection by providing information on the effects of the abuse on the child’s school performance as well as supporting the efforts of the child protection services.
In so doing, the DA reiterates its calls for the Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, to open a commission of inquiry to probe the extent of sexual abuse in the province.
We can prevent the harm of our children and we can integrate services.
What we cannot do is sit on our hands and wait for a miracle solution.
Providing the necessary protection for our children will deal with high drop-out rates and teenage pregnancies.
We all get shocked by the statistics on pupils who drop out of school as they are alarming.
Equally, the number of pupils who fall pregnant at primary and secondary schools confirms the need to strengthen support to them.