SA Crime Stats – Wounded Children

by Lynne Cawood

Biography for Lynne Cawood

Director:  Childline Gauteng

Lynne Cawood

Lynne has a Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) and achieved a Masters in Clinical Psychology. She is the Ex Director of People Opposing Women Abuse and current Director of Childline Gauteng. She is also one of the founder members of the National Welfare Forum, the National Network on Violence Against Women and Childline SA.  With a passion for politics, development and spiritual understanding, Lynne hopes to see South Africa take our place in the world of nations as a caring, compassionate and ethical people with a great democratic future!

A twelve-year-old boy was referred to our Inner City Jhb Counselling Centre for sexually inappropriate behaviour and bullying when his school wanted to suspend him. It transpired that he had been raped and never disclosed for fear of being labelled a “sissy”. Once our therapist had helped him to understand his aggression and his wounds started to heal, he became a model learner. His mom’s words were: “Thank you Childline, I now have my boy back.”

This is an appeal from Childline Gauteng to please help to get our boys back! The high levels of violence experienced by boys (and girls) are reaching endemic proportions and fueling the cycle of criminality.

Whilst crime impacts both genders, males are at greater risk of being victims of violence: the Optimus Study and the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention indicates that boys and girls are equally vulnerable to sexual violence; 77 boys are murdered compared to 31 girls in Gauteng; our clients tell us that our boys’ exposure to physical violence is extreme; and, many more men compared to women are murdered.

According to Ciet Africa, male survivors of sexual abuse are 4 – 6% more likely to become perpetrators themselves, if not afforded healing opportunities. This, coupled with the unintended consequence of boys feeling the gender discrimination generated by girl child campaigns, leaves them marginalized and traumatized.

The recently released SAPS Crime Statistics, show an alarming 478 659 crimes reported in Gauteng during 2017 – 2018, 28.7% of the 1 662 845 reported nationally as shown in the graph below:

Click on the graph to load larger image.

Crime has an immensely detrimental effect on our children who live in this “war zone”: Children are victims or are related to the survivors; they witness the commission of crime; and, media reports have a negative effect on the impressionable psyches of our children.

The impact of crime on the 3.3 million children living in Gauteng has to be urgently addressed: as victims; being orphaned; and, made vulnerable through the loss of loved ones. This naturally brings about economic vulnerability not to mention the complex emotional burden it places on the children and their caretakers. Many live with traumatic stress disorder symptoms which impact on their physical, emotional and academic / work functioning. They fear annihilation of themselves and their loved ones. Learned aggression is employed as a survival tactic and rather than adopting positive values they have a “victim” worldview. This results in the inability to develop trust and causes great fear, impacting on their freedom to play, study, become independent and grow in self-esteem and confidence. It crushes our hope for a brighter future.

The pathway to reducing crime is multi-faceted and calls on us all to make a difference. It includes supporting the SAPS to continue to apprehend criminals and promote justice for the victims, establishing economic policies to ensure basic needs for all and the provision of healing services for the traumatized.

The Childline services facilitate child safety, addresses trauma and strengthens families helping to prevent future criminality through our 24/7 toll-free Helpline, Community Based Counselling Centres, Awareness and Prevention Programmes and Safe House care for children in life-threatening circumstances. We promote child-centred communities with positive values through all our services and community engagements.

We appeal to all, for the sake of our children, to step up and do everything in our power to reverse the criminal trends destroying our country. We all have a role to play in the co-creation of a South Africa we can be proud to call home.

AFRICAN HUMANISM

Childline Gauteng mourns the loss of our colleague and friend of over two decades, the late Mme Lineo Rabotapi, who taught us the meaning of African Humanism or Ubuntu, and we pen this article in honour of her legacy to the children of Childline.

According to Reuel Khosa (2011) “African humanness” encompasses the values of the universal brotherhood of humankind, including: belonging; dependence on relations with all including mother earth; respect for the dignity and rights of the individual; working for the common good; a reverence for our Elders and Ancestors; and, the overarching God-principle that recognizes our humanness comes from The Spirit.

African Humanity comes with the Moral Authority of ancient tradition where the village council gathered together under the leadership of the Chief to reflect on resolving social and economic issues based on the principles of restorative justice for the collective good.

These are the principles which give us hope for the future of South Africa and guide the Childline service delivery to the children and families we serve. We at Childline call on all to remember and return to the spirit of African Humanism and traditional Moral Authority, for the sake of our children and the generations to come that they may inherit the country of our dreams - that so many have given their lives for.

As we, once again, face an uncertain future in our motherland. The transition from our autocratic history to a democratic dispensation is not without great challenges. This is especially true for our families struggling to maintain parental authority whilst incorporating a human rights framework within their child-rearing practices. This authority is essential for growing children who need their caretakers to contain their natural anarchical tendencies until they have the maturity to be guided by their own internal values.

Despite our achievements post-1994, there is a great need to restore African Humanness and Moral Authority within some of our organs of state, corporates and individuals. Nationally we need them to lead the country and be role models of positive values, especially for our children.

In the words of Martin Luther King: Love without power is anaemic and power without love is abusive. Let us all strive to ensure our children learn the value of love (African Humanity) and power (moral authority) to lead us to a better future.

We honour Mme Lineo for her teachings: building unity in a divided and unequal society; caring for our children; honouring the elders; her matriarchal moral authority based on African values of community, respect and traditions; and demonstrating this through her actions on a daily basis, 24/7 and 365 days a year.

We take comfort for Reuel Khoza’s words: “The human community of spirit is so central that not even death can interfere… the link between the living and living dead is sacrosanct and unbreakable: those who have gone before us have joined the spirit of the universe to watch over us and cement our respectful relationships…”(2011; page xxxix).

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