Despite having human rights-friendly laws relating to the protection of the youth, South Africa has failed to nurture its children, according to AndrŽ Keet of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
Unfortunately, Keet says, South Africa is still described as a nation that fails to nurture its children, particularly in a recent report issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on sexual violence against girls in South African schools.
Keet, director of the SAHRC’s centre for human rights education and training, spoke in Midrand last month at the sexuality education conference hosted by the Department of Education.
“We know that abuse is rife in our schools – sexual, physical, emotional and mental violence, injury or abuse are inflicted on our children on a daily basis. We also know that these practices place schools in direct opposition to our present educational policy and legislative framework. In short, it adds to the vast array of barriers to learning that erode their life chances and opportunities,” Keet said.
Abuse within the school system, he said, represented one of the most frequent complaints the HRC dealt with. Schools were robbed of their full potential to perform their primary function – that of providing for the right to education for all our children.
Keet said elements within these institutions impeded access to education for thousands of girls, according to the HRW report. Apart from limiting access to schooling, the emotional and psychological damage was immeasurable.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, September 2001.