Horror Of Boys' Sex Abuse

A clinic in Boksburg has seen 58 cases of child abuse, most of them involving sex.

In the first quarter of this year, Boksburg Kidz Clinic has treated 58 boys under the age of 13 for physical and sexual abuse. One of the youngest victims is a three-year-old.

"We are seeing the same trend at our other six clinics," said Miranda Friedmann, the director of Woman and Men Against Child Abuse, an NGO.

The six Kidz Clinics around the country provide a free service, both medical and psychological treatments, to children, but they are struggling to cope with this huge increase in abuse cases, said Friedmann.

Sonja Kleingeld, a social worker for Boksburg Kidz Clinic, said that in the past, between 5 and 10 percent of their cases were related to the abuse of boys. Now it is 15 percent. It is twice that for girls.

Shaheda Omar, assistant director for the Teddy Bear Clinic, revealed that their statistics on the abuse of boys were "close to the statistics of Kidz Clinic". She said they were receiving more frequent reports of sexual abuse.

"We are getting boys who are coming forward to say they are being victimised and/or are victimisers," said Omar.

Both Omar and Kleingeld agree that a contributing factor to the increase in reporting is due to the provisions made in the Sexual Offences Act.

Previously, said Kleingeld: "Victims felt that when their perpetrators were charged with indecent assault, nothing would really happen to them, so they (victims) felt the stigma attached."

Historically and culturally, added Omar, it also wasn't accepted that boys were being violated.

"Previous legislation said only females were raped. But there has been a paradigm shift, with the new Sexual Offences Act saying sodomy or anal penetration also constitutes rape. As a result of this, these are now being reported."

In one of their recent cases, said Kleingeld, a three-year-old boy was raped by a teenage neighbour in Boksburg. Medical findings confirmed repeated rape over a six-month period.

While the toddler's single mother was at work, a domestic worker had been employed to watch over him.

The toddler played at the neighbour's house, where it was assumed that he would be safe with the teenage boy.

It was only after the last incident, which occurred during the school holidays, that the toddler told his grandmother.

"During a visit to his granny, he kept saying that his bum was sore while she bathed him.

"Then, the next day, he complained again. So she took him to a doctor, who did a medical investigation, saw that he had been raped and then opened a case," said Kleingeld.

She explained that a psychosocial assessment was also done at the clinic, where it was determined, through different techniques, including the use of an anatomical doll, what had happened.

"This little boy was also well spoken. Others are usually not able to verbalise, and emotionally cannot explain how they are feeling.

"Through a picture he drew, he said he was angry at what had happened to him, and angry at the alleged perpetrator and at his mother," said Kleingeld.

Of the 58 cases in the clinic's care, Kleingeld said, more than half had been opened with the police.