Boys' toys breed thugs, conference told

One in three girls and one in five boys under 18 are sexually abused in South Africa.

Many are raped by family members, but despite the shocking statistics, only five percent of the cases result in convictions, as thousands of mothers remain silent about the trauma their child is going through for fear of losing their breadwinner.

Those were the harrowing statistics Director of the Childline Family Centre Joan van Niekerk shared with the 900 delegates at the Soroptimist International Conference at the International Convention Centre on Friday.

Soroptimist International is a worldwide organisation for women in management and professions, who work voluntarily through service projects to advance human rights and the status of women. Comprising 830 international and 53 local delegates, this was the first time the two-day conference had been held on the African continent.

But one of the most shocking statistics of all was that 40 percent of these sexual crimes were committed by children themselves. More than 99 percent of the crimes were committed by men and boys.

"Boys' toys - like guns - are symbols of aggression," said Van Niekerk. She said mothers needed to look more closely at how they raised their sons.

"We teach men not to empathise and we are now reaping the results of those teachings through abuse," she added.Van Niekerk said reports of child abuse increased from 38 300 in 1998 to 67 017 in 2000.

"Those are just the cases reported to the Child Protection Units. There are still the other police stations and those that go unreported," she said. "Only 1 in 26 cases is reported."

A major concern was that mothers were often aware of abuse in their homes, but because the father, brother, uncle or boyfriend might be the sole provider of income, she would rather keep silent than risk losing the breadwinner.

"With a 50 percent unemployment rate in this province, and no income support for children older than seven, mothers keep silent," she said, adding that 50 percent of all victims of were children under seven.