Urgent reforms are needed as child neglect and abuse cases by mothers and their partners surge, with experts calling for stricter penalties to protect vulnerable children.

Youandi Gilain, from the Isaiah 54 Children’s Sanctuary, a safe home for abandoned and abused children, in south Durban, said they had dealt with “heart-breaking” cases of child neglect in recent months.

“There is a marked increase in child abandonment from new-born to three year olds. We see neonatal substance abuse, physical and emotional abuse, a lack of supervision, nutritional neglect, sexual abuse and domestic violence on a daily basis,” said Gilain.

“One of our worst cases was that of a two-year-old girl who was raped by her neighbour because she was not properly supervised by her parents.

“We also had a six-year-old boy who was badly beaten by his mom. He had bruises on his face, back and arms. A four-week-old baby girl was assaulted and a two-year-old girl was so malnourished that she could hardly sit up,” she added.

She called on the laws to be amended to introduce harsher sentences as a deterrent to child abuse.

“There also needs to be better reporting mechanisms and follow up visits with social services. Societal consequences include increased healthcare costs, increased crime rates and reduced productivity. To break the cycle, we need raised awareness, the proper provision of support services, strengthened laws and policies and community involvement,” Gilain added.

Dr Shaheda Omar, clinical director of the Teddy Bear Clinic, an organisation that deals with abandoned and abused children throughout the country, said what frightened her about the recent cases, was that children were brought into the centre with old and new lacerations and fractures.

“This indicates that there was a delay in seeking medical attention for the child, as the old wounds and injuries had not been treated. This is concerning. It is because often the alleged perpetrator is within the family. We see these cases mostly in smaller children, who cannot articulate abuse they endure

“These are babies, infants and toddlers. Older children do not report abuse and neglect out of fear. In December, we had a case where a child suffered severe physical injuries, and upon investigation, we found that the child had a sibling who had passed on due to abuse and neglect. Recently, we have seen an increase in cases where parents are inflicting injury on their own children.

“Another problem is the increase in cases where the partner of the child’s parent abuses and neglects the child. Usually, children are victims of abuse by their mother’s partner, and the mother becomes a colluder, because she does not protect the child. This often leads to severe abuse and even murder.

“One would assume a mother is there to protect, nurture or care for her child, but sadly, this is not the norm anymore. We have become implicit in our expectations as a society, that a child birthing mother would cause harm to her own child, but nowadays, more and more children are subjected to physical injury, harm and emotional trauma at the hands of their own mothers.

“I think women become silent to abuse of their children because of gender-based violence, the fear of losing financial support from their partners, or due to underlying mental health issues. We see this when rape cases are reported by the child’s neighbour, and not someone from the household. Neighbours are alerted to the fact that a child is being victimised by their mother’s partner, or sexually abused and the mother is not doing anything.

“But sometimes the community fails to report matters due to being afraid of victimisation and their safety. We have seen how easily one can be shot dead in South Africa. We see babies, infants, toddlers, dying from the shaken baby syndrome, acute head injury or trauma. This is not always diagnosed, and is easily overlooked, which is something of concern. So many culpable homicide cases and unfortunately closed because a baby cannot speak or stand up, and say this is what happened. These cases go unreported and unnoticed.

“Babies are shaken out of frustration, anger, neglect, and purposefulness. Sometimes, the parents would cover up their tracks because they are afraid, but often we see that cases are intentional. Children cannot talk, and when cases are reported to law enforcement, parents give glowing reports. Because of the lack of specialised training, law enforcement officials will not pursue it and the parents are not held responsible for their actions.

“To stop this, there needs to be a multidimensional approach. We need to reinforce the law and empower people on the failure to report. We need to teach people how and where to access help and support, and make them aware of the impact of neglect and abuse on the trajectory of the child. It has a ripple effect on their mental health, cognitive and emotional development. There is a great need for harsher and more severe sentences to stop the atrocities on children,” she said.

Aroona Chetty, director of the Phoenix Child Welfare, said in the Phoenix and surrounding areas, they had seen an increase in children being isolated and not attending school.

“We recently had a case where a 12-year-old child had not ever been to school. Children are being denied education, and this goes against their rights. There is also a rise in cases where children had no birth certificates and have not attended school. We recently removed seven children from the care of their parents for not sending their children to school.

“Cases of severe malnutrition, extremely poor hygiene, exposure to drugs during pregnancy and after birth, and un-updated vaccinations are also on the increase. These are cases of neglect which go unnoticed. Substance abuse, prostitution, cost of living, unemployment, single parenting and teenage pregnancies are driving child neglect.

“Mothers are also abandoning their children, leaving them with grandparents, friends and neighbours. There is a great lack of parental responsibility in the community. We find out about these cases of neglect from schools, relatives and anonymous calls. We have also received a host of cases where neighbours and family members report false allegations because they have issues with each other and use child welfare to fight their battles. This is a major challenge and it puts a strain on our limited resources. We join the call for harsher sentences and stricter laws to safeguard children,” Chetty added.

THE POST