Alarm over increase in child-on-child sexual abuse

By Nicky Blatch

CHILDREN are increasingly falling victim to sexual abuse by other children in an appalling trend that experts say is linked to peer pressure, poverty, poor role models and television.

Authorities say “peer pressure” for young boys to be sexually active often leads to young or disabled girls being raped.

Children are also far more aware of sex these days as they see it on television, and overcrowded homes mean children often see their parents having sex, which sets a bad example.

While the country observes Child Protection Week, welfare organisations admitted child-on-child sexual abuse was growing in the Eastern and Southern Cape, with some perpetrators as young as eight.

But because no specific statistics are kept on child-on-child abuse, government and NGOs do not know exactly how widespread the problem is.

Childline KwaZulu Natal – the only one of the country‘s eight Childlines that works with offenders and those who have been abused – says more than three- quarters of the sexually abused children seeking help there have been hurt by other children, with children under the age of 12 outnumbering teens.

Director Linda Naidoo said the shocking trend had emerged over the past few years, with growing numbers of children under the age of 12 displaying “inappropriate, sexualised behaviour”.

Trix Marais, regional director of Child Welfare (Western Cape), which includes Knysna and Plettenberg Bay, said more cases of child-on-child sexual abuse were being reported.

“It was happening before, but people are becoming more aware of their rights, and it‘s being reported more often now.

“In the Constantia farm area near Cape Town, there was a case about eight months ago of 12 farm children – ranging in age from eight to 12 – engaging in group sex every afternoon.

“We had to run a programme at the school to address this issue.”

Marais said the organisation had to intervene at a Mossel Bay nursery school, where a boy, 4, was “so aware of sex, he knew exactly what to do with his friends”.

“The boy was sent to a psychologist, and it transpired that his father was watching blue movies.”

She said poor role models, television and exposure to “gangsters‘ ways of living” all contributed to child-on-child sexual abuse.

Mthatha Child Abuse Resource Centre programme manager Sithembele Nyambali said: “There are many cases of children abusing other children, and numbers are rising. There have been a few instances where children have been under 12, but the majority are aged between 14 and 17.

“Some of the perpetrators have been abused before, or they have been influenced by the media – by copying what they see or hear.”

Childline (Eastern Cape) director Annie Rossouw said: “We are living in a violent society – children see abuse taking place, they watch it on television. Children are far more aware of sex these days.”

But she said the majority of perpetrators were adults, where the sexual abuse of children was usually related to power issues. “It‘s difficult to say if children relate it to power, or if they‘re just copying what they‘ve seen.”

Afrikaanse Christelike Vrouevereniging (ACVV) regional representative Miranda Paulsen said many of the child-on-child abuse cases did not make it to court.

“In the communities there‘s such a lot of blackmailing and pressure on the girls if they are abused by the younger guys that we don‘t have these statistics. And a lot of the girls won‘t testify in court. It‘s very difficult.”

Paulsen said that poverty was often a factor in child abuse cases.

“Sometimes houses are overcrowded – there might be 14 people in one house, with no privacy. Children watch mum and dad having sex – this sets a bad example.” She said the organisation was working on educating young girls about their rights.

“In some communities, girls think that if they agree to going out with a boy, this means they are giving their consent to have sex with him, or his friend also has free access,” Paulsen said.

Sakhumzi Yawa, chief director of developmental social welfare services at the department of social welfare, said several cases of child-on-child sexual abuse had been reported in the Eastern Cape, but the majority of cases involved adult male perpetrators, known to the child.

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