Young one embarked on a march against GVBV
Members of the Rainbow Forum embarked on a child protection awareness campaign on Friday in Mamelodi.
According to one of the leaders of the organisation Eulenda Mahlangu, the organisation embarks upon this campaign every year with the aim of teaching children how to express themselves and report incidents of abuse that may happen to them.
“We marched from the Engen petrol-filling station in Section D1 in Mamelodi West (Maseko shops) right up to the local softball pitch,” she said
The march, which in essence highlighted the scourge of gender based violence (GBV) against children, featured kids holding placards, singing, dancing and calling upon the government to act against perpetrators of the scourge.
Mahlangu said the other aim of the march was to let members of the community at large know that they must take care of children and acknowledge that children have a right to the following:
1.Protection from abuse
2.Shelter.
3.A name.
4.Health care.
5.Education.
She said her organisation engaged members of the community in a workshop to show them that they must not abuse their kids and that abuse comes in many forms that include the following:
1.Drinking alcohol in the presence of kids; which is an emotional abuse. 2.Calling them names.
3.Undermining them.
4.Beating them up.
Mahlangu added that children have the right to report all these aforesaid forms of abuse to the police.
She pointed out that there are police officers who support them in their endeavour to protect children.
“The Rainbow Forum is made up of 20 members from Mamelodi East and Far East Early Childhood Development Centres and today in our march we have invited Constable Ratau and Social Worker Kedibone.
“Kedibone is always with us when we do events and helps us a lot because she gives us information on how to teach the kids and talk to parents,”Mahlangu said.
“When we have serious cases whereby a child is being neglected by parents we report such a matter to Kedibone and she would then take further steps regarding the matter,” she said.