About 928 children were sexually abused last year.
Speaking in the National Assembly last Thursday, deputy minister of marginalised communities Royal /Ui/o/oo said 1 173 cases of child neglect were also reported last year.
/Ui/o/oo was responding to a parliamentary question by Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) legislator Mike Venaani.
He further said 526 cases of physical abuse of children were reported during the same period.
In the Khomas region, 119 cases of physical abuse and 260 cases of sexual abuse were reported.
The Oshikoto region reported the highest number of child neglect cases, at 300, followed by the //Kharas region with 161 and the Hardap region with 159 cases, said /Ui/o/oo.
He further said social workers in all 14 regions attend to cases of violence against children.
The deputy minister emphasised that violence against children is a violation of their rights, from which children must be protected.
“Most cases reported to regional social workers are physical, sexual, neglect and child abandonment, with few cases relating to child trafficking. Thus, social workers provide interventions based on the risk assessment of each case reported,” /Ui/o/oo said.
Psychologist Shaun Whittaker said the number of physical abuse cases are likely more than those reported, as only the most severe cases are reported to the police.
Whittaker said corporal punishment as a form of disciplining a child is also a form of physical abuse.
“I think in most cases people do not go to the police station when it comes to physical abuse.”
Whittaker said sexual abuse is sometimes not reported because people do not want to have a family member arrested.
“You lose someone with a salary. Most families choose not to report,” he said.
According to Whittaker, there are likely more cases of children being abused countrywide and a serious effort must be made to reduce the prevalence.
“For me, one of the most important solutions is that we must declare corporal punishment as something illegal throughout the country. I think this is a good starting point to try to stop this abuse of children.”
Whittaker called for a national conversation about various alternatives for disciplining children, as well as acceptable ways to treat children.
“If we could ban corporal punishment and have a serious conversation about children’s rights with respect, I don’t think we will ever have child abuse in the country,” he said.
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