Cape Town - A study by UCT’s Children’s Institute (CI) shows that many crimes against children – such as rape, abandonment and sexual and physical abuse – still go unnoticed and unreported.
The study, titled “Closing the gaps in services that respond to violence against women and children”, was conducted by CI researchers Professor Shanaaz Matthews, Dr Neziswa Titi and Lucy Jamieson.
The research showed that support from various leaders in the community such as religious leaders, teachers and law enforcement all play a critical role in the process to solving these issues.
“We know that institutions of learning like schools, colleges and universities experience sexual violence challenges, and it all forms part of the broader sexual and gender-based violence pandemic in this country. Violence is prevalent in all communities, even on our campus,” Dr Titi said.
The study uses decolonising methods to inform its contextual and culturally relevant findings and Titi suggested that services offered should be context-specific and tailored to suit the individual needs of the community.
“While all communities should have access to services of equal quality, the manner in which services are presented and offered should be in line with what women and children need and can relate to. Knowing exactly what these needs are is important.
“For children who experience daily exposure to sexual and gender-based violence in the home, research indicates that the scourge has become a normalised occurrence,” she said.
“What has emerged is that many children fear speaking up about their experiences.”
Titi said that the issue of silence should be addressed urgently and that children should be empowered to feel strong enough to speak up.
A solution lies in community cohesion, she said. Schools, teachers and law enforcement should adopt an approach that helps them do more to respond to children’s cries for help and manage their needs sensitively.