“Sexual violence and the exploitation of children represents our shortcomings as a society in our responsibility to protect our children,”- Graça Machel.
Child sexual exploitation is a form of sexual abuse that all of us must not turn a blind eye on. Sometimes, a child is abused by a person they trust. When a child is being sexually abused, they are given gifts that may come in form of money, gifts or food. Sometimes, children are tricked and groomed to believe that they are loved or are in a love relationship with their abuser. In my years as a psychology student, I have come across so many published empirical based articles and books about the effects of sexual abuse on children and how this affects children as they grow. It goes without saying that what we experience as children plays a very big part on how we end up as adults. An abused child may show signs of trauma which may result into mental disorders and even substance abuse among other things.
On 27th November, 2019, different partners concerned with the welfare and protection of children met in Mozambique during the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) themed Sexual Exploitation of Children in Africa- A Silent Emergency report launch and symposium where they reflected, discuss and looked into actionable plans to address sexual exploitation of children in Africa. The report that was launched pointed at disturbing statistical evidence about the magnitude of this problem, South Africa showing one in every three children being at risk of sexual abuse before they will get to reach the age of 17.
Addressing symposium on child sexual exploitation in Africa: Dr Zelia Menete, Executive Director, FDC Mozambique; Dr Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on VAC; Mrs Graça Machel, Chair, International Board of Trustees, ACPF; Chair of the Board, Graça Machel Trust; Chair of the Board, FDC; H.E. Lucas Mangrasse, Vice-Minister of Gender, Children and Social Action, Mozambique; Dr. Assefa Bequele, PhD, Executive Director, ACPF.
In her capacity as Board Chair of the ACPF, Mrs. Graça Machel was honoured to launch the report, and in her remarks, she said sexual violence against children is an unconcealed and extreme violation children’s rights which also has life-time physical, mental, developmental and social consequences on children.
She expressed her concerns about how online sexual exploitation is affecting children and called for caregivers to be more vigilant, “of course, we cannot and should not take our children off of the digital platform; it is a useful source of information and one that matters to their lives. However, without well-informed supervision and child-safeguarding measures, the digital space has become and is likely to be increasingly dangerous to our children. We need to know better and act sooner than later”, she said.
Child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism was one of the other problems addressed especially now that Africa is becoming a new frontier for tourism both local and international it is equally confronted with the huge challenge of contending with criminals on the move and we need to put measure in place to safeguard children so that children are not sexually exploited by tourists.
In her OpEd title “Child sexual exploitation in Africa is on the rise”, while she called on governments to take a deeper look into this problem, Mrs. Machel highlighted that we cannot blame the growth in child sexual exploitation solely on digital and travel trends but on other social ills as well.
“We cannot blame the growth in child sexual exploitation solely on digital and travel trends. In more than four decades of working with children across the continent and beyond, I have seen time and time again the corrosive, insidious impact of poverty, inequality and discrimination driven by traditional patriarchal and cultural attitudes- Graça Machel.
Bringing it back home, the Graça Machel Trust work towards ensuring that children are safe and contributes towards the reduction of child rights violations on the continent through effective utilization of various national, regional and continental mechanisms designed to protect children from rights violations.
In a chat with Interim CEO of Graça Machel Trust, Dr. Shungu Gwarinda who was also present at the report launch and symposium, she commented on issues that are affecting children in South Africa and how the Trust is taking action through its advocacy work to protect children from being exposed to sexual exploitation. She said, “poverty, harmful tradition practices, violence and discrimination against children contribute to children sexual exploitation”.
“Violations of children’s rights remain common across our continent, with grinding poverty, harmful traditional practices, violence and discrimination against children being one of the main contributions to sexual exploitation and violations to children’s rights. Sexual exploitation of children is a threat to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda 2030 and the continent’s own Agenda 2063, given the long-term effects on children and the population”- Dr. Shungu Gwarinda.
According to The African Report on Violence Against Children, over 200 000 children are trafficked annually across borders in central and west Africa for exploitative labour[1]. Africa Child Policy Forum reports that forms of sexual predation of children are increasing including child sex tourism, child pornography, over & above sexual violence in the home and communities. Every year, 3 million girls are at risk of genital cutting. Of the 41 countries world-wide with child marriage prevalence rates of 30% or more, 30 are in Africa[2].
[1] Eben Badoe, African journal of emergency medicine, Vol 7, Supplement 2017 (pp S32 – S35) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2017.09.002
[2] African Child Policy Forum, 2014 http://africanchildforum.org/files/AfricanReprotVAC.pdf
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.