Children caught in brutal cycle

VIOLENCE by children against other children in South Africa is well above the global average.

There are various risk factors such as perpetrators experiencing or witnessing violence in their homes and neighbourhoods on a regular basis, associating with violent peers and abusing alcohol and drugs.

Criminologist at Stellenbosch University's political science department, Guy Lamb, said while there was no reliable year-on-year data on child-onchild violence, previous studies had shown the numbers in South Africa were higher than global averages.

“Unfortunately, we do not have reliable year-on-year data on childon-child violence, so we can’t tell if it is getting better or worse,” Lamb said.

“From a variety of studies over the past two decades, we do know that the perpetration of violence by children against other children, especially adolescents, is well above the global average. South Africa has much higher rates than countries with data, such as in North America and Western Europe.”

During the 2019/2020 financial year, more than 10 000 child assault cases were reported to the SAPS. Despite a decrease of 134 from the previous year, Lamb deemed this as alarming.

“They are scared that their abuser will hurt them again if they report the assault to the police, they don’t trust the police, they aren’t able to access a police station and/or view such violence as normal.

“Most assaults mainly happen in the home, and often at the hands of a member of a child’s household. Such violence also takes place in neighbourhoods. Some schools even continue to make use of corporal punishment,” he said. More recently, a nine-year-old boy allegedly assaulted a six-year-old girl with a sharp instrument. The girl sustained head injuries.

Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut said a case of assault to cause grievous bodily harm was reported to Muizenberg police and the matter was with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Molo Songololo director Patric Solomons said children learnt from adults.

“Parents are the main role players responsible for the care, well-being, nurturing and protection of their children.

“Children learn violence from parents and their environment. If no intervention is made, the offender most likely will commit further serious crime as he/she grows up, land up in jail and even commit murder.

“If the victims do not get the correct support, the incident could affect them for the rest of their life. The trauma of the actual event and subsequent responses can further traumatise a child. He/she will live in constant fear and even become violent,” he said.

Medical officer at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital trauma unit, Dr Rochelle van Coller, said: “Some days are better than others but I can’t think of the last time I did a shift without seeing an abuse case. Over the last month we had more than 20 children in the hospital at any given time who were victims of abuse, including stabbings, gunshot wounds, physical assault and sexual assault.

“This translates to roughly 30 per month, meaning one a day. And that is only at our hospital.”

Child protection consultant Joan van Niekerk said children younger than 18 were committing crimes for a combination of reasons.