BRIEFING BY THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TO THE PARLIAMENTARY HEARINGS ON THE SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN
PARLIAMENT, 11 MARCH 2002

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 There is mounting concern about the extent and severity of child abuse, especially the sexual abuse of very young children. The sexual abuse of young children over the past year has increased the anger and frustration of communities. The Department of Social Development views these Parliamentary hearings as a significant intervention in finding solutions to the problem. It also reflects a greater willingness to have the issue of sexual abuse discussed openly. Most important, it affirms the Department’s view that "Protecting Children is everybody’s business".

1.2 The Department’s briefing will cover the following areas:

(a) Our understanding of the nature and extent of the problem
(b) An overview of the actions the Department has taken
(c) The challenges in responding effectively to the problem and
(d) our proposals for dealing with these challenges

1.3 Other government departments, including the Departments of Education, Health, Justice, Home Affairs, the National Prosecuting Authority and the South African Police Service all play a critical role in addressing the problem of sexual abuse of children. Non-Governmental Organisations and Provincial Departments also provide important services. It is understood that these departments and organisations will also be briefing the Committee.

2. NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM

2.1 There is a tendency to focus on rape when talking of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is any sexual act between a child and a person who is more powerful in terms of, for example, age or physical strength. It therefore includes sexual acts, which do not involve direct physical contact, for example, exhibitionism, exposing children to pornography or involving children in the production of pornography. The commercial sexual exploitation of children is also a form of sexual abuse. Commercial sexual exploitation is the procurement of a child to perform sexual acts for financial or other reward payable to the child, the parent or guardian, the procurer or any other person.

2.2 It is not easy to determine the true extent of sexual abuse of children, as there is no single national database on child abuse or sexual abuse of children. Various roleplayers who do maintain statistics do so primarily for their own use. They do not use common definitions and the different data collection systems make it difficult to compare data.

2.3 The Child Protection Register established under the existing Child Care Act will need to be upgraded substantially to serve as a national database.

2.4 There is therefore heavy reliance on the statistics of the South African Police Service who can only record reported cases. The latest information available from SAPS is as follows:

 

Jan-Dec 1999

Jan-Dec 2000

Jan-Sep 2001

Rape and attempted rape:

 

 

 

0-11 years

7 883

7 898

5 859

12-17 years

13 299

13 540

9 821

Sub-Total

21 182

21 438

15 680


Incest:

 

 

 

0-11 years

69

39

41

12-17 years

74

74

60

Sub-Total

143

113

101


Indecent assault:

 

 

 

Females under 17 years

2 209

2 400

1 872

Males under 17 years

1 468

1 627

1 188

Sub-Total

3 677

4 027

3 060


Assuming that sexual abuse is under-reported, the police statistics only provide a partial picture of the extent of sexual abuse. Changes in the statistics could simply be reflecting changes in reporting rather than an increase or decrease in the actual incidence of sexual abuse.

2.5 There is a substantial body of research on sexual abuse, but the narrow focus of studies limit their use for policy-making. The experiences of people who work in the area suggest the following:

(a) Sexual abuse of children is not confined to one segment of the population. It occurs in all social classes and in all population groups.

(b) Conditions of poverty may make children vulnerable to sexual abuse, for example, commercial sexual exploitation. This does not mean that poverty necessarily leads to sexual abuse. The lives of poorer people tend to be more open to public scrutiny than the lives of the better off segments of society.

(c) The abuse of alcohol is evident in a number of instances.

(d) Boys as well as girls are victims of sexual abuse, although girls probably constitute the larger proportion of victims.

(e) Disabled children are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse. Their mental or physical disability make them an easier target.

(f) Perpetrators are often known to the child or the family. Perpetrators are not necessarily strangers, but may be people who are in positions of trust with regard to the child.

(g) Not all perpetrators are adults. Children have been known to abuse other children.

3. ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE DEPARTMENT

3.1 The limitation of the statistical information does not diminish the need to address the problem. The Department is proceeding on the basis that sexual abuse of children is a problem and it should take all necessary measures to protect children. The Constitution, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child oblige us to do so.

3.2 The measures taken by the Department cover the broader spectrum of child abuse, neglect and exploitation and are not confined to sexual abuse. These measures are outlined below.

Services to children and families

3.3 Provincial Departments of Social Development provide a range of support services to children and families. These include:

Trauma counselling, clinical assessment, interim placement of children if required and support in dealing with investigative authorities. Similar services are provided by Non-Governmental Organisations.

3.4 In some provinces, social workers work with the officers of the Child Protection Unit.

3.5 The National Department has facilitated the piloting of 24 hour services and these services are now provided in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape and the Free State. This programme provides for social workers to be on call to assist police officers with cases of abuse. The service is operating fully in the Western Cape and the Free State and in one area each in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. The Victim Empowerment Programme co-ordinated by the National Department has established 100 projects in the provinces, many of which are one-stop or 24 hour services for women and children who are victims of abuse.

Improving the management of child abuse cases

3.6 Protocols for the management of child abuse cases have been developed in all the Provinces. These protocols make provision for providing a multi-disciplinary and integrated service to child victims and their families.

3.7 A similar protocol has been developed for the national departments and is awaiting final comments from the relevant Ministers.

3.8 The Child Protection Register has been established in all the Provinces. The Child Protection Register is established in terms of Section 42 of the Child Care Act, which compels health care professionals; social workers; teachers; and managers and staff of children’s homes, places of care and shelters, to report suspected cases of abuse. The purpose of the register is to monitor each reported case; to track children across provincial boundaries; and to keep information on legal actions taken. The register should also serve as a source of information for research, policy and planning. The registers operate on a manual system and the computerisation of the register will be completed by November 2002. From the manual registers, only 2500 cases of abuse and neglect have been recorded. This reflects serious under-reporting of cases.

3.9 The Department has provided training to a range of professionals who work with abused children. Training details are as follows:

81 trainers trained in child abuse management, forensic interviewing, roles and responsibilities and the Child Protection Register. Trainees were health professionals, prosecutors, teachers, police officers and social workers. These in turn trained about 3000 others working in the field.

400 social workers from Provincial Departments were trained in case management and the Child Protection Register.

40 volunteers and entry level professionals were trained in child abuse management and neighbourhood response.

Prevention programmes

3.10 Life skills programmes for children form part of the workload of social workers in the Provincial Departments.

3.11 Provincial Departments participate in social crime prevention programmes such as the Neighbourhood Response Programme in the Western Cape and Safe Houses Programmes. The Neighbourhood Response Programme assists community members to identify and report child abuse cases. The programme has been established in all districts in the Western Cape. Other provinces have elements of the Neighbourhood Response Programme and the intention is to roll-out the programme in all provinces. The Safe Houses Programme is more established in the Western Cape than in other provinces. 104 safe house parents have been trained, mostly from the Western Cape.

3.12 Community awareness campaigns are conducted during Child Protection Week in May and Social Development Month in October.

3.13 A Directory of Children’s Services has been produced with the assistance of Save the Children Fund and a Directory of Services to Victims has also been published.

Co-ordinating structures

3.14 The NCCAN was established as a sub-committee of the National Plan of Action for Children in South Africa (NPA). The NCAN comprises the main government departments involved in child abuse, provincial representatives as well as representatives of the Non-Governmental Sector. The NCCAN serves as a co-ordinating forum for matters relating to the abuse and neglect of children.

3.15 Provincial Child Protection Committees exist in all the Provinces. The North West, Free State, Western Cape and Northern Cape have established Child Protection Committees in all their districts. Other provinces operate on a regional basis and have established a committee in each of the regions.

3.16 Each Provincial Department of Social Development has an official appointed as the Provincial Child Protection Co-ordinator. At regional or district level, one official acts as the Child Protection Co-ordinator, a responsibility additional to other duties.

Subsidies to welfare organisations

3.16 Provincial Departments provide subsidies to welfare organisations, including those who provide services to child victims of sexual abuse. The National Department provides subsidies to national councils.

4. CHALLENGES IN RESPONDING EFFECTIVELY

Although a number of programmes are in place to address the problem of sexual abuse of children, there is a considerable way to go to develop a fully effective response. The social development sector faces a number of challenges.

4.1 Need for co-ordinated and integrated response

Child abuse is a complex issue, which involves a number of role-players, government and non-government. We need a coherent strategy to:

Provide a common vision and framework for all role players
Provide clarity on the respective roles and responsibilities of all role players
Combine, share and optimise resources
Build and strengthen partnerships between government, civil society, non-governmental organisations and the general public.

The NCCAN has developed a draft strategy. While the principles and the intentions of the strategy are agreed upon, it must be supported by a Programme of Action with specific objectives, targets and time frames. A small Inter-departmental task team has been refining the strategy for consultation at the NCAN by end March 2002. The Strategy will be submitted to the Government Cluster to ensure buy-in at the most senior level.

The Inter-Departmental Committee has identified the following priorities for action:

Strengthening the legislative framework and harmonising all laws
Improving the investigation of cases of abuse
More attention to prevention
Improving co-ordination of services provided by the various departments and the NGO sector
Responding to children with special needs (e.g. disabled children)
Mobilising partnerships with communities, the religious sector and other sectors of civil society
Building institutional capacity at all levels
Strengthening governance within the Child Protection System
Enhancing information, research, monitoring and evaluation

4.2 Shortcomings in the legislative framework

(a) Child Care Act

The Child Care Act 1983 as amended, is the primary statute for the protection of children. It provides for the notification of suspected cases of abuse and for the official investigation into cases of alleged abuse.

The Child Care Act is widely regarded as being deficient and for this reason it is to be replaced by new Comprehensive Child Care legislation. The South African Law Commission published for comment its final discussion paper in January 2002. It is envisaged that the Bill will be introduced into Parliament in the second half of 2002.

(b) Prevention of Family Violence Act 1993

Although many of the provisions of this Act were replaced by the Domestic Violence Act, Section 4 of the Act was not repealed. Section 4 provides for compulsory reporting of child abuse and this has created confusion about the reporting of abuse. The SA Law Commission has recommended the repeal of this section in its discussion paper.

4.3 Human resource constraints

Child protection and child abuse cases are labour intensive. Unrealistic caseloads of prosecutors, social workers and health workers can result in secondary abuse of children.

There are currently 10 080 registered social workers and 2500 child and youth care workers in South Africa. About one-third of registered social workers are not in practice. Provincial Departments and Non-Governmental Organisations experience a high turn-over of social workers and inexperienced social workers carry the enormous responsibility of dealing with cases of abuse.

Psychologists and psychiatrists are among practitioners whose skills are needed in the assessment and treatment of children and their families. Most of these are in private practice.

The issue of social workers has been recognised by MINMEC and has been prioritised for attention this year.

4.4 Expanding one-stop services

Time is a critical factor in dealing with cases of sexual abuse and the establishment of One-Stop Centres can facilitate speedy handling of cases. The One-Stop Centre is important from the perspective of the child and family in that it avoids them being sent from one agency to another to repeat their traumatic recount of the abuse. Existing service points, for example, a health centre, could serve as the basis for establishing one-stop centres. In the long term there should be at least one centre per magisterial district.

4.5 Extending services to rural areas and other under-serviced areas

Rural areas do not have access to services to the same extent as people in urban areas. Although the NGOs are making an effort to extend their services in rural areas, they face severe budgetary and staffing constraints. The emerging Community-Based Organisations in rural areas require extensive support. It is essential that the Department provides assistance to NGOs and CBOs to service the rural areas.

More needs to be done to build partnerships with Faith-Based Organisations, who are well-placed to be involved in prevention campaigns especially in rural areas. There are also many volunteers who work in the sector and the support for the volunteer movement can go a long way towards extending the reach of the public service.

4.6 Need for involvement of local government

The role of local government has not been explored adequately to date. Local government has a critical role to play in the prevention of child abuse and neglect, by creating an overall environment that is safe, health and child-friendly. Child safety issues should be incorporated into the Integrated Development Plans of local authorities. Whilst it is recognised that local authorities have varying capacities, it is essential that steps are taken to involve local government.

4.7 Strengthening the reporting mechanisms

The relatively low number of cases on the Child Protection Register suggests that there is still under-reporting of cases. The Department needs to investigate the reasons for the under-reporting.

There have been calls for the establishment of a register of perpetrators. The SA Law Commission has considered this issue and in its discussion paper the Law Commission has advised that such a register could be established along the lines used in the United Kingdom.

4.8 Information and Research

The information collected through the Child Protection Register has the potential of being an important source of information if the majority of cases are reported. A thorough analysis of the data on the Child Protection Register is required at the national, provincial and local level to estimate the size of the child abuse problem, the various categories of abuse and the number of cases being dealt with by all the relevant departments and other structures.

This needs to be supplemented by more detailed research into child abuse. As a starting point, the Department needs to conduct a review of all the current research, so that a comprehensive research programme can be developed.

4.9 Greater emphasis on prevention

Much of the work of the National and Provincial Departments of Social Development is focused on intervening in cases of abuse. More attention needs to be paid to prevention of abuse. This requires:

Expansion of life skills programmes
Increasing awareness of communities
Addressing the social conditions that increase the vulnerability of children, for example, alcohol abuse
Ensuring that caregivers have access to social assistance (social grants)
Expanding programmes to strengthen the social institution of the family
Working with Faith-Based Organisations on moral regeneration programmes

4.10 Budgetary constraints

On average 90 percent of the consolidated provincial social development budget is spent on social assistance. This leaves 10 percent to cover the operating costs of the departments as well as provision of a broad range of social services.

Subsidies to welfare organisations have remained stagnant or with very marginal increases. Similar budgetary constraints exist in the National Department with regard to welfare services.

Part of the difficulty in securing an adequate budget for child abuse is the absence of information for planning and costing of services. The Department has therefore prioritised children’s services in its project on norms and standards for welfare services.

5. SUMMARY OF PLAN OF ACTION FOR 2002

The Department’s Plan of Action for 2002 is summarised as follows:

(a) Ensuring that the new Child Care Bill is introduced into Parliament in the second half of 2002.

(b) Review of reporting problems with the Child Protection Register and finalising computerisation of the National Child Protection Register and evaluation.

(c) Analysis of information on Child Protection Register and audit of current research. Prioritise research on commercial sexual exploitation.

(d) Norms and standards and costing of services

(e) Proposals for increasing number of social service professionals and investigation into conditions of service.

(f) Continuation of training programmes, with expansion of training for local committees and volunteers.

(g) Establishing partnerships with Faith-Based Organisations on issue of child abuse.

(h) Evaluation of Neighbourhood Response Programme, Safe Houses and One-Stop Centres with view to expansion in the medium term.

(i) Finalisation of integrated strategy for Child Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of Children.

Department of Social Development
11 March 2002