Social development department said kids believe that the 'gender' in gender-based violence indirectly means women and not children and boys.
THE Department of Social Development has been on the road consulting with kids on the National Strategic Plan against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP-GBVF).
The country’s blueprint document is meant to combat gender-based violence and femicide, but children said it's not child-friendly and that unfortunately it has forgotten children and men.
According to social development spokeswoman Lumka Oliphant, children believe that the "gender" in gender-based violence indirectly means women and not children and boys.
"They challenged the drafters to look at the document and count how many times children were mentioned," she said.
She said the kids said the document is in English and as children, they do not think their communities even know what gender-based violence is.
"That is why a separate pillar is important to show adults where the document needs to consider children. They decried the fact that even in the national steering committee," she said.
"They pointed out that while the authors of the document think that the LGBTQIA community is mentioned, the document glosses over their issues and does not understand what children with a different sexuality go through," she said.
A 16-year-old Northern Cape Child Ambassador Shareez James said: "The document is solid but lacks inclusivity in the sense that it only mentions the LGBTQIA community at the end. The document should include them throughout."
Patience Sibande (17) from Greytown said she had to keep consulting her dictionary because the terminology and language used was so difficult.
Rebecca Smith (17) said that perhaps instead of a pillar, there should be a strategic document on how to deal with violence against children, as adults have already written their own document.
Oliphant said the department started consultations with children after the kids demanded during the presidential summit on gender-based violence and femicide last year that the document should include a pillar 7 dealing with children.
The country’s blueprint document is meant to combat gender-based violence and femicide, but children said it's not child-friendly and that unfortunately it has forgotten children and men.
According to social development spokeswoman Lumka Oliphant, children believe that the "gender" in gender-based violence indirectly means women and not children and boys.
"They challenged the drafters to look at the document and count how many times children were mentioned," she said.
She said the kids said the document is in English and as children, they do not think their communities even know what gender-based violence is.
"That is why a separate pillar is important to show adults where the document needs to consider children. They decried the fact that even in the national steering committee," she said.
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Oliphant said the children feel that South Africa listens to them, but does not respond to them."They pointed out that while the authors of the document think that the LGBTQIA community is mentioned, the document glosses over their issues and does not understand what children with a different sexuality go through," she said.
A 16-year-old Northern Cape Child Ambassador Shareez James said: "The document is solid but lacks inclusivity in the sense that it only mentions the LGBTQIA community at the end. The document should include them throughout."
Patience Sibande (17) from Greytown said she had to keep consulting her dictionary because the terminology and language used was so difficult.
Rebecca Smith (17) said that perhaps instead of a pillar, there should be a strategic document on how to deal with violence against children, as adults have already written their own document.
Oliphant said the department started consultations with children after the kids demanded during the presidential summit on gender-based violence and femicide last year that the document should include a pillar 7 dealing with children.
