News

More than 250 cases of child neglect recorded for 2017

January 18, 2018 5:33 am

A total of 259 cases of child neglect was recorded by the Child Services Unit from January to November of last year.

Ministry of Women’s Child Services Assistant Director, Ela Tukutukulevu says child neglect tops the Child Welfare Decree Statistics list followed by physical abuse and sexual abuse with 168 and 153 cases respectively.

”That goes to show that alot of our children are left out there, so neglect can come in different forms; it can be neglect of care. Most are neglect of care, children not receiving proper nutrition or are not sent to school and some that are loitering the streets. So this has really become a concern for us.”

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Tukutukulevu says some of these neglected children fall under the care of the Child Protection Scheme in which parents and guardians receive financial assistance from programmes such as protection allowance and the poverty benefit scheme to assist families with their care.

She adds parents who are found to be neglecting their children are taken for counseling and there are negotiations between child officers to ensure children are safe at their homes.

The Child Welfare Decree statistics recorded a total of 930 cases ranging from child neglect to sexual abuse among others from January to November last year compared to 1077 cases in 2016.