Sexual violence against children and youth: Exploring the role of congregations in addressing the protection of young girls on the Cape Flats

Abstract

The Children’s Institute, a research arm of the University of Cape Town, reports that 18.5 million children live in South Africa. The institute’s vision is for ‘A society in which children are valued, nurtured and protected; their rights are realised; and where they are able to participate, develop and reach their full potential’. A quick scan of South African newspaper headlines, however, reflects numerous accounts of the abduction, rape and murder of young girls on the Cape Flats in Cape Town, South Africa, during 2016–2017. This seems to confirm the statistic that one in three children is a victim of sexual violence and physical abuse before the age of 18. Sadly, many of these instances are alleged to have been linked to a family member or close family friend. Some have even been linked to Christian church contexts. This article explores this unacceptable rise in violence against these young girls and from this vantage point continues to more specifically reflect on the role congregations can play in such instances. The article argues that such abuse takes place within an ecosystem of violence and then considers how the trauma of such an experience has affected the faith formation of these young girls. The article, furthermore, highlights the recent publication entitled ‘Children, Church and the Law’, which calls for the establishment of church policy on the protection of children in our local congregations and communities as one preventative and educative tool in addressing this issue.

“I Am Actually Sitting With Fear”: Narratives of Fear of Crime and Actual Victimization in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

“….and the latest crime statistics reveal that three quarters of the murders in South Africa were committed by persons in the twenty to thirty-nine-year-old age group” (John, 2018, p. 57). In the WCP, homicide rates were greater than the national average (Jabar et al, 2017) and many of these murders took place in an area called the Cape Flats in the Western Cape (places such as Mitchells Plain, Lavender Hill, Khayalitsha, and Elsiesriver)” (Weber & Bowers-DuToit, 2018, p. 1). These townships are demographically and racially representative of Maraval.…”

The Role of Cities in Ending Violence Against Children in South Africa

“…Scholars have recommended a multipronged approach to VAC prevention (Mathews & Benvenuti, 2014), and identified a need for positive and supervisory caregiving coupled with household food security (Cluver et al, 2020). Other preventive measures that have been recommended include changing social norms (Rasool, 2022), and focusing on community-level interventions (Molnar et al, 2022;Weber & Bowers-DuToit, 2018). In their study on community-level programming to prevent VAC, Molnar et al (2022) identified a need for relevant "efforts to build infrastructure that effectively coordinates services and prevention efforts" (p. 465).…”