For Thomas Kruger’s bereaved family, his suicide at St Andrew’s College in Makhanda was inexplicable. Five years later, with the launch of a documentary focusing on harm...
Child Abuse
Sexual violation in schools exposed in “School Ties” documentary: SAfm
Ahead of the launch of the MNET documentary, School Ties, SAfm's The Meeting Point explores the prevalence of sexual abuse in schools, specifically the use of grooming and...
Time for looking away is over — sexting is our children’s new normal, adults are in denial
Sexting, shared nudes and sextortion are part of a worrying trend among many South African and overseas kids and teens, despite big tech’s promises that it’s taking steps to...
Attempts to stop the child-related pornography tsunami stalled indefinitely
More than half of the nine- to 17-year-olds in South Africa have seen sexual images on a phone or online device in the past year – 8% took naked photos or videos of themselves...
Abuse and suicide, the spectre that haunts elite boys’ schools: Parktown Boys’ High (Part Two)
When it comes to sexual abuse, grooming and physical brutality, what happens in school doesn’t always stay in school. For many boys, the trauma they experience in their elite...
Sexual abuse and suicide, the spectre that haunts elite boys’ schools: St John’s College (Part One)
About two in five boys in South Africa are sexually abused before the age of 18. Of those boys, 20% are abused by teachers. Those reporting traumatic childhood experiences such...
Like sweeping leaves in a cyclone, Child Protection Week echoes with empty promises
It’s the end of another Child Protection Week, proof positive of a government without a cohesive funded strategy for child protection, or anything related to children, and one...
Violence against children – prevention is possible, and better than cure
The 16 Days of Activism is a palpable reminder of the horrible human cost of violence against children. But as we admit failure in ending violence through policing and the...
Sport and child abuse, what every parent needs to know
When swimming joined waterpolo, gymnastics, tennis, hockey, netball, football, karate, rugby and many others on a long list of sports racked by allegations of child sexual abuse,...
The Parktown Boys safety bell: Breaking the silence around abuse
On 11 October 2020, family, staff and child protection advocates stood in the pouring rain to honour the ‘Parktown Boys 23’, the victims of water polo coach Collan Rex’s years of...
Why did Enock Mpianzi die?
hen Enock Mpianzi drowned on a school orientation camp, it was not because he was poor, black and foreign. Nor was it, as leadership of the Nyati Bush and Riverbreak Lodge has...
The prevalence of child abuse cries out for more government action
Child deaths related to abuse and neglect are especially common in children under five, highlighting the vulnerability of young children to violence and neglect in the home....
Secrecy, initiation, grooming and the ‘Parktown Boys way’
One of the most significant events of the 2018 ‘16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children’ was the sentencing of Collan Rex, the abuser of 23 Parktown Boys’...
Child victims of violence: The stories behind SA’s child abuse statistics
by Robyn Wolfson Vorster and Talia Jade Magnes Child protection statistics in South Africa paint a troubling picture: high proportions of the nation’s children victimised by...
Get In Touch
We won't spam!