Official: Children neglected, abused by own parents

By MARJORIE FINKEO
AN increasing number of children are being neglected, abused and their rights violated by their own parents, mainly in settlements, City Watch chairman Alex Jafa says.
Jafa’s observation follows a police officer’s reminder that police should enforce the Lukautim Pikinini Act effectively when dealing with children involved in crime.
Most children on the streets selling store items, begging at traffic lights and involved in petty crimes because their parents had stopped their rights from going to school, forced child labour, forced marriages and used capital punishment, Jafa said.
“The police will come in to play its role to give its support like enforcing search warrants to make arrest in relation to safety of a child for Child Protection, we have not got enough capacity and technical experts from law agencies to eliminate the problem,” Jafa said.
Police should not only focus and go hard on children when they commit crime but also protect and safeguard their rights being violated by perpetrators, he said.
He said there was a pragmatic need for “joint efforts” from other social groups, government, and non-governmental organisations and law agencies to work on ways for prevention and create polices that could guide them.
Department of Justice Secretary Dr Eric Kwa said the department was looking at other agencies to come together to engage an increasing number of children on the streets, give them short training and engage them in community work.