The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected children’s risk of violence in their homes, communities and online, and has compromised the ability of child protection systems to promptly detect and respond to cases of violence. However, the need to strengthen violence prevention and response services has received insufficient attention in national and global pandemic response and mitigation strategies. In this paper, we summarize the growing body of evidence on the links between the pandemic and violence against children. Drawing on the World Health Organization’s INSPIRE framework to end violence against children, we illustrate how the pandemic is affecting prevention and response efforts. For each of the seven INSPIRE strategies we identify how responses to the pandemic have changed children’s risk of violence. We offer ideas for how governments, policy-makers, and international and civil society organizations can address violence in the context of a protracted COVID-19 crisis. We conclude by highlighting how the current pandemic offers opportunities to improve existing child protection systems to address violence against children. We suggest enhanced multisectoral coordination across the health, education, law enforcement, housing, child and social protection sectors. Actions need to prioritize the primary prevention of violence and promote the central role of children and adolescents in decision-making and programme design processes. Finally, we stress the continued need for better data and evidence to inform violence prevention and response strategies that can be effective during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
For hundreds of adoptable African babies in South Africa, their right to be permanently raised in a loving family environment is not being realised because there are an inadequate number of adopters. To help deal with this child welfare challenge, a study was conducted in South Africa to investigate what factors affect the decision-making processes of Africans regarding the legal adoption of non-kin children, because only a small number choose the legal adoption trajectory to parenthood. To acquire this knowledge, the grounded theory research method of Corbin and Strauss was implemented. Data were gathered by personally interviewing five different cohorts of African participants; most being women. It was found that African women usually decide to legally adopt non-kin children because their desire to mother permanently is not realised when engaging in kinship care. The four main reasons they turn to legal adoption of non-kin children are: (1) legal adoption offers security because it is a permanent childcare arrangement; (2) legal adoption provides a sense of “ownership” because the adopter acquires full parental rights and responsibilities for raising the adopted child; (3) once accepting infertility, legal adoption can ease the psycho-emotional pain of infertility; and (4) the desire to nurture an infant can be realised through legal adoption. Recommendations for practice and future research regarding this phenomenon are discussed.
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