Speaker, the ACDP notes with sadness and concern that police have seen a trend emerge where more and more children are being killed by their own mothers. When the culture and laws of a country protect and even encourage and celebrate a woman's right to take the life of her unborn children, we have to ask why it surprises us when mothers take the liberty of killing their children after birth as well. It is of course tragic and shocking, but to be expected. Our culture and liberal laws on abortion must change if we want to see a decrease in violence against children in this country.
Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit operational head, Brigadier Bafana Linda, told the newspaper:
We are seeing more children dying at the hands of their mothers. This is extremely worrying. How do the police prevent a child from getting killed in the place where they are presumed to be the most safe? The unit secured 499 life sentence convictions over the past financial year alone.
A World Health Organisation study released in May stated that 1 018 child murders took place in South Africa in 2009, the newspaper reported. Over a third, 35,5%, were killed by an acquaintance and nearly 30% by their own mothers. Nearly half, 45,9%, took place in a public space, 34% in the victim's home, while girls were more likely to be killed at home than boys. Of the children murdered, 43% were cared for by single mothers and 29,8% by both parents. Thank you.