Parents urged to keep their children safe during this festive season
Cape Town: Missing Children South Africa has warned parents to be more vigilant in the months ahead of the festive season when there is an increase in the number of children going missing.
National coordinator Bianca van Aswegen. said that while there were no statistics on the exact number of children who go missing in South Africa, the organisation has seen an annual increase in cases of children being reported as missing.
“Covid has had a great impact on many things and also particularly the increase in human trafficking due to most people working and studying online. The increase in poverty has also contributed to children being more susceptible to trafficking.”
Van Aswegen said that children go missing for various reasons. This includes cases of children running away from home due to abuse and kidnappings, which happen due to parental abductions, human trafficking, opportunistic kidnappings and kidnappings for ransom.
“We always see an increase of children reported missing during the festive season as this is a busy time at our beaches and our shopping mall. Parents should be more cautious over this time and educate them on child safety.”
Should anyone be willing to support the NPO on their initiative in reuniting missing children with their families, they may do so by visiting the website on www.missingchildren.org.za.
Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world, generating more than R258 trillion per year. According to A21, 64% of trafficked victims recorded in Africa are children. South Africa is a source, transit and destination country.
According to the Global Slavery Index, 54% of South Africans are vulnerable to become potential victims.
Spokesperson for the MEC of Social Development, Joshua Covenant Chigome, said that parents should also be vigilant of another danger faced by children online.
“Online predators generally are adults, who exploit children and teenagers. Predators use fake online identities and go into chat rooms, gaming sites and other social network platforms and will try to target impressionable children.
“ Predators often connect with children over their ‘related life situations’ and speak about their shared struggles or appreciation for things. A child may agree to a meeting in-person because they have learned to trust their online friend.”
Chigome said that even children and teens who don’t go so far as to meet the predator in-person may experience negative effects by talking to predators online. They may develop mental health issues, because they have seen pictures or other content that they were not mentally and emotionally ready for. He added that they can become depressed or withdrawn and begin to isolate themselves from their family and friends.
Chigome shared the following tips to help parents ensure their children’s safety during the festive season:
1. Ensure that your child is supervised at all times.
2. Know where your children are at all times, and who they are with. When leaving children with other adults – whether they are family, friends, neighbours – ask them to inform you if they intend to leave the premises.
3. Be sure that the people you leave your children with are capable of caring for children.
4. Ensure that your child knows their own full names, your full names, address, and a contact number. If they are lost, this information can be vital in quickly tracing the parents or caregivers.
5. Teach them, in age appropriate terms, to tell you if anything is wrong, whether it’s children or other adults that have hurt them or made them feel uncomfortable in any way. Enquire about their day, and what activities they took part in, and with whom.
6. Take note of the signs of abuse. This may be a change in their behaviour, becoming withdrawn, reverting to bed wetting, strong opposition to visiting certain family members or friends.
Weekend Argus