30 Nov 2022

Child negligence and abuse is rampant in Chanoga and its catchment areas, Constable Tebogo Thuso of Maun police has stated.

Updating Chanoga community on issues of defilement and child welfare on Tuesday, she said children were still neglected and abused in spite of the child protection laws in place.

Constable Thuso said some children had been forced to drop out of school to care for younger siblings citing an incident in which a Standard 4 pupil was left in charge of her siblings.

“This is disheartening as neighbours are aware of the incident but not taking action. The situation is unacceptable as it disturbs children to fully develop into the desired level socially due to lack of proper family setup,” she warned.

Constable Thuso said lack of parental care extended to children not being provided with basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter and being forced into early marriage.

She also decried the increasing teenage pregnancy statistics in the village and the resultant high school dropout rate.

Giving examples, she said some pupils who were supposed to sit for their Junior Certificate Examination this year dropped out to get married while others were living in some form of union, she said adding that  their parents entertained such arrangements because they benefitted.

Constable  Thuso said mentally-challenged children were not spared from issues of defilement.

Another example of negligent behaviour on the part of some parents  was exchanging  children’s food rations for alcohol.

Constable Thuso said it was worrisome that parents had abdicated responsibility for the care and protection of their children.

It was unfortunate that some cases went unreported, she said.

Sub Inspector Segopolo Lefatshe of the Gender and Child Protection Unit said defilement, abuse and child negligence issues needed concerted efforts and urged parents to come on board.

He said incidents of incest, defilement, rape, murder and threat to kill were prevalent in his jurisdiction.

 Last year, 81 cases of defilement were registered as compared to 57 recorded from January to September this year, he said

Sub Inspector Lefatshe said 99 rape cases were reported last year compared to 87 this year while 43 cases of threat to kill were  recorded in 2021 against the 42 from January to September this year.

“We also recorded four shocking incidents of incest as compared to two last year and generally the statistics are scary and call for all to act to arrest the situation,” he stated.

Sub Inspector Lefatshe that every child needed to be protected from violence, abuse and exploitation.

He informed his audience that police established a dedicated Gender and Child Protection Unit in Maun this year to deal with among others issues of domestic violence and sexual offences relating to children.

 Members of the community were advised to make use of the unit.

Ngami District Health Management Team official, Mr Bagogi Chibona said teenage pregnancy was still a challenge in the district with a total of 209 cases registered up to June out of which 14 were girls aged below 15.

   Last year, 274 cases were registered 25 of them being girls aged below 15 and the youngest aged 11.

    He urged all stakeholders to come up with collective ways of reducing the cases.ENDS