The epidemiology of child homicides in South Africa

Mathews, Shanaaz; Abrahams, Naeemah; Jewkes, Rachel; Martin, Lorna J.; Lombard, Carl

doi:10.2471/blt.12.117036

Cited by 88 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…A national mortuary-based survey found that three children a day are murdered, and that three out of four children aged <5 who are killed die as a result of fatal abuse by a carer at home. [7] Data assembled by the South African Medical Research Council indicated that in 44% of sexual offences reported to the police, the victim is a child. Most rapes of children (an estimated 84%) are perpetrated by men known to the child; in schools, the men are often teachers.…”

Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

A longitudinal perspective on violence in the lives of South African children from the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort study in Johannesburg-Soweto

et al. 2018

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Background.Violence against children is a significant cause of personal suffering and long-term ill health, poor psychological adjustment, and a range of social difficulties, including adverse effects intergenerationally. Objectives. Using a large corpus of longitudinal data collected in the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort, to give an overview of exposure to and experience of violence, as well as perpetration of violence, across childhood, reported contemporaneously by several informants. This overcomes limitations of retrospectively recalled information collected from one person at one point in time. Methods. We identified 280 data points relating to exposure to and perpetration of violence in 14 of the 21 waves of data collection from birth to 22 years of age. Data were classified into four developmental stages (preschool, primary school years, adolescence and young adulthood) and seven categories (exposure to violence in the community, home and school; exposure to peer violence; being a victim of violence, excluding sexual violence; sexual violence; and perpetration of violence). Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyse the data. Results. Over the past two decades, only 1% of the sample had not been exposed to or experienced violence in their home, school and/or community. Two-thirds of children of schoolgoing age were reported as having been exposed to community violence, and more than half of all children to violence in their home. Reports of sexual violence increased from 10% among primary school-aged children to ~30% among adolescents and young adults. Over the course of their lives, ~40% of children were reported as having been exposed to or being victims of five or six of the categories of violence coded in this analysis. High levels of violence perpetration were reported across childhood. Age and gender differences in exposure to and experience and perpetration of violence were evident, and all categories of violence were more prevalent among poorer and more disadvantaged groups. Conclusions. Very high levels of violence were reported in all the settings of urban South African children's lives: home, community, school, among peers and in their intimate relationships. Children and youth were also reported to perpetrate high levels of violence. The personal and social costs of violence are very high, resulting in major public health problems due to its avoidable effects on short-and long-term mental and physical health and social adjustment, and intergenerationally.

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Section: Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

A longitudinal perspective on violence in the lives of South African children from the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort study in Johannesburg-Soweto

et al. 2018

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“…This region was exposed to decades of socioeconomic deprivation as a result of apartheid and suffers from family displacement, poverty, unemployment, and a high HIV prevalence. 14,15 Little peer-reviewed research has been published on family violence in South Africa; however, the current literature suggests that South Africa's child homicide rate is twice the global estimate, 16 and 15% of men reported having raped or attempted to rape a wife or girlfriend in the last 10 years. 17 The Asenze Study focused on health, social, and contextual factors influencing children's developmental outcomes.…”

Section: Study Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Intimate Partner Violence and Child Behavioral Problems in South Africa

Chander¹,

Kvalsvig²,

Mellins³

et al. 2017

Pediatrics

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BACKGROUND: Research in high-income countries has repeatedly demonstrated that intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by women negatively affects the health and behavior of children in their care. However, there is little research on the topic in lower-and middleincome countries. The population-based Asenze Study gathered data on children and their caregivers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This data analysis explores the association of caregiver IPV on child behavior outcomes in children <12 years old and is the first such study in Africa.

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“…From personal experience (LJM serves as a member of the National Forensic Pathology Service Committee) and involvement in national mortality-based studies of two of the authors (SM and LJM), it is suggested that the Western Cape referral pattern is different from the national referral pattern in that most SUDIs are not referred to the FPS, but declared as natural deaths by medical practitioners in the community, and are therefore never brought to the attention of the health surveillance system. [13,14] A concern is the potential for child homicides, in particular deaths from neglect, to remain undetected. This may also place other children in the family at risk.…”

Section: Child Deaths In South Africa: Lessons From the Child Death Rmentioning

confidence: 99%