‘Government continues to fail women and children’: More than 7 raped every day, almost half are kids

There are an average of more than seven rapes a day in Mpumalanga province – and almost half of those involved are children, according to official police statistics.

According to South African Police Service (Saps) crime statistics, 688 rape cases were reported between April and June.

The figure includes 356 women and 332 children.

“These statistics are not just numbers. Behind every case is a traumatised victim, a devastated family, and communities living in fear while the government continues to fail women and children,” Teboho Sekaledi, a DA member of the Mpumalanga legislature, said.

Only a fraction of the violence

Teddy Bear Foundation clinical director Dr Shaheda Omar warned the reported cases represented only a fraction of sexual violence because of underreporting caused by fear, shame, threats, family pressure, stigma and a lack of confidence in institutions.

The consequences could affect the development of children, their education, relationships, trust and understanding of safety, she said.

Omar called for early identification of children at risk, age-appropriate education on body safety, boundaries and consent, stronger parenting programmes and interventions addressing harmful sexual behaviour among children and adolescents.

She also called for programmes targeting boys and men on healthy masculinity, respect, accountability and non-violence, as well as safe reporting mechanisms in schools.

Family violence, child protection and sexual offences units needed adequate resources, while police, social workers, health care professionals and prosecutors required proper training, she said.

Lack of a plan

Robyn Wolfson Vorster, child protection activist and founding director of For the Voiceless, said: “Mpumalanga is the province with the highest rates of child rape relative to other crimes against children.”

She identified shortages of policing, medical, psychosocial and legal resources as major gaps, but said the lack of an effective prevention strategy was most worrying.

“With only six months to go until the department of education’s deadline for vetting all educators against the National Child Protection Register, the province has only vetted about a third of its teachers.”

Sekaledi called for the immediate deployment of specialised gender-based violence units to hotspot areas, increased police patrols and visible policing in high-risk communities, and urgent strengthening of victim-support services and shelters.

He also called for rape cases to be fast-tracked through specialised courts and for accountability from Saps leadership over what he described as poor conviction rates and investigative failures.

Witness Maluleke, a senior criminologist at the University of Limpopo, said the figures showed urgent interventions were needed.

“The figures clearly showcase failures of all relevant stakeholders mandated to respond to GBV and child abuse.

“The responsible organisations should not act in isolation. They should also share best lessons and practices among them.”

Maluleke also urged families to remain involved in children’s lives and teach them about personal safety and sexual violence.

Role of men and boys

Prince Ntsikelelo Soga, a gender-based violence activist and director of non-profit I Am That Man that empowers men, said: “We need to move beyond responding to GBVF after it happens and invest much more strongly in prevention.

Men and boys must be central to this work.

“Schools must identify and respond to warning signs. Law-enforcement agencies must investigate cases professionally and treat survivors with dignity. The government must provide the resources and accountability required to make GBVF interventions effective,” Soga said.

Willem Els, an expert from the Institute for Security Studies, said rape and other sexual offences were among the most underreported crimes.

Perpetrators were often known to their victims and, in some cases, were family members, making it difficult for victims to report the crimes, Els said.