Child Protection Week has gone by pretty unnoticed by most last week. This is rather unfortunate, seeing that child abuse and child prostitution is a big problem in South Africa. In 2004 it was estimated that there are about 38 000 child prostitutes in SA, and that most definitely is probably an underestimate of the actual figure. According to a Media24 article, Susan Kreston of the Council of the National Centre for Justice and the Rule of Law in the USA said that “Up to 25% of prostitutes in South Africa are children, and up to 25% of street children (are prostitutes)”. Also, SA seems to be the main destination for trafficked children in Southern Africa. Many of these children are from Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and even as far out as Thailand and Russia. The most shocking thing however is that many of these children are being sold by their own parents! Others are abducted or lured to the streets of especially Cape Town and Johannesburg with false promises.

Apparently the remnants of apartheid, poverty and hunger play a significant role in most of the crimes against children, as well as the food shortage in neighbouring countries. I’m not that convinced about how the legacy of apartheid still has a role in this, but I’m convinced that the crisis in Zimbabwe is only making things worse. According to a website called Stop Demand, “Girls aged 12 to 17 are the most common targets of the gangs, brothel owners and others - including their own mothers - who are forcing them to sell sex”, and that girls are often abducted from shopping malls, taxi ranks, and even schools. Their findings also include those facts that: “Once they are recruited, girls are used to bring in their sisters and friends. Gangs trade in girls, exchanging them for money and weapons.” And “In some reports, communities knew of child prostitution, but justified it as a “necessary evil” given their socio-economic hardships.” In this case, being 14 years into democracy, the current government should be blamed, and not the previous one.

South Africa has no specific laws against child prostitution and child trafficking, although it is illegal to have sex with a child under the age of 16 and to abduct or kidnap a child. There is also the Children’s Act and the Children’s Amendment Act, which are instruments of fighting child poverty and of promoting the rights of the child. The theme of Child Protection Week, “CARING COMMUNITIES PROTECT CHILDREN”, probably sums it up best... Although looking at our xenophobic communities, it doesn’t leave these children with much hope…