Chapter 10: Development of multi-disciplinary model for OVC
4.5 FACTORS EXPOSING CHILDREN TO VULNERABILITY
4.5.3 Contextual factors
Children in violent homes often witness parental violence, and this negatively affects their psychosocial functioning. Domestic violence produces harmful emotional consequences (Dunkle et al., 2004; Danga, 2008). The consequences of children witnessing one of their parents being abused are severe and are often overlooked and misunderstood (Dunkle et al., 2004; Singleton, 2015).
(h) Parent child interaction
Families involved in maltreatment of a parent or a child seldom reward their children for positive behaviour, while they display strong responses to their child’s negative behaviour (Ameyaw-Akumfi, 2013). Children who have parents who are less supportive, affectionate, playful and less responsive are more likely to be vulnerable and have attachment issues later in life (Pillay, 2012).
of vulnerabilities, developed well in a caring school environment and later became responsible citizens. It is within this framework that a school-based model will be essential in helping the school to be better equipped to help OVC. However, the vulnerability of children may be aggravated by school environments that are less caring or supportive.
4.5.3.2 The society
In any society, there are factors that will have an impact on the people who live in those societies. The way that society is structured, its socioeconomic status, belief systems, norms and values as well as policies can directly or indirectly affect the way children are reared. A society that is characterised by mass poverty tends to care less about its children. The following discussion addresses societal factors that can contribute to children’s vulnerability.
(a) Poverty, unemployment and inequality
Societies that are classified as poor tend to experience multiple vulnerabilities (Phillips, 2015). Evidence has shown that social ills such as domestic violence and substance abuse, among others, are common in poor societies. In South Africa, an unhealthy trajectory exists between unemployment, poverty and inequality. In an environment where more than 30% of the population are classified as unemployed, and a large segment being unemployable because of lacking skills, many societies are subjected to poverty and that is the reason why South Africa is named as the most unequal society in the world (World Bank, 2020; UNDP, 2013).
Societies that are characterised by high levels of unemployment are generally poor and faced with multiple risks (Phillips, 2015). Besides widespread poverty and unemployment, there is usually also a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS (Phillips, 2015). These multi-risks communities pose threats to the well-being of their children and negatively affect their development and functioning (Dawes, Bray, & Van der Merve, 2007).
In the Maleboho East Circuit, which is under the jurisdiction of the Blouberg Municipality,
the situation is even worse, where around 48% of the population remain unemployed (Blouberg Municipality IDP 2021-21). Statistics show that around 75% of South African black children live below the poverty line (SSA, 2019; UNDP, 2019). Many children suffer the adverse cycle of intergenerational poverty, which is difficult to break in the environment of poor education, high unemployment rates and social inequality (De Lannoy et al., 2015). This results in the perpetuation of social exclusion, which hinders these children to have the same chances as children coming from well-off families.
Many authors agree on the interconnectivity between poverty and vulnerability (Dekeza, 2018; Hlalele, 2015; Tsheko, 2007). They commonly assert that poverty exposes children to vulnerability (Bright, 2017). Poverty is an indicator of the lack of access to resources and income opportunities (UNICEF, 2018). The poor are often exposed to serious risks and are defenceless against the various forms of deprivation. According to the International Labour Organisation [ILO], poverty cannot only be defined only as being the lack of Income, but also the lack of access to healthcare, education and other services (ILO, 2020). Evidence had shown clearly that poor people are prone to greater health and safety risks, which result in children experiencing barriers to learning, as well as physical, intellectual, neurological and sensory difficulties (Landsberg, Kruger, & Swart, 2011).
Though poverty exposes children to vulnerability, this does not indicate that all poor children are vulnerable; however, poverty increases the risk that exposed children will be more vulnerable (Heruzzo et al., 2020). The parents or caregivers’ struggle to meet the basic necessities of life also affects the children negatively. Second, the various levels of poverty can cause family stresses and frustration, which in turn, can result in punitive or aggressive behaviour towards children, as well as abuse (Mohale, 2019). In addition, overcrowding, which is usually associated with poverty, can expose children to sexual abuse (Makofane, 2015).
(b) Incompetent policies
Effective and relevant policies are essential when aiming to ensure that the children’s rights are observed. However, in an environment where policies are not child-friendly, they may make children even more vulnerable. Policies have to be part of the development of child programmes that are meant to help children. The South African Government has developed competent policies and legislation that many authors agree are child-friendly and ensure that children’s rights are observed. They have been fully discussed in Chapter 2. However, they have been highly criticised for lacking guidelines on how they are going to be implemented in practice. Second, they are confusing practitioners on the relevant functions, who must do what and the applicable accountabilities (Reynecke, 2018). Many authors have criticised the South African Government as not having the political will to implement its own policies (Kasiram, 1993;
Kemp, 2013; Kemp, 2014; Ntombela, 2011; Reynecke, 2018).
(c) Gender stereotypes
Rural communities are commonly characterised by backwardness and holding on to traditional values, which still regard and treat women as inferior to men (Ntjana, 2014).
There are traditional practices such as ukuthwala in some cultures, where girls as young as 15 are forced into marriage with older men (Machaka, 2019; Jokani, 2018). Girl children are still seen as sub-citizens who have no rights and are compelled to do the household chores under the command of their husband, father, uncle or other male family member. This negatively lowers women and girls’ self-esteem, self-worth or self- confidence. This situation perpetuates and even increases the likelihood that girl children are more vulnerable than boy children.
(d) Social norms and values
The value that society puts on its children determines the level of vulnerability children will experience. In a society where children are highly valued and measures are in place to ensure the protection of children (Openshaw, 2014), vulnerability should be lower among children. In South African context, and as already discussed in the previous
section, laws and policies have been put in place that uphold children’s safety;
unfortunately, South Africa is ranked high in terms of child crimes (SSA, 2019), crimes committed by children and against children. This is a sure signal that there is no cohesion between policies and laws, and the actual practice. There is still the approach that crimes will be punished, instead of trying to prevent the crimes from being committed. Also, the rights of the criminals are often taken more seriously than the rights of the victim, which results in high levels of underreporting of crimes, especially those committed against women and children.
There is confirmed evidence that there are many risks and challenges facing vulnerable children (Ngonyama, 2014). These risks and challenges may inhibit these children’s opportunity to function well and build their own future (Nkosi, Haman, Naicker, & Mathee, 2019).