Government-funded programmes and services for vulnerable - Unicef

Government-funded programmes and services for vulnerable children in SA
recognise and respond to children’s needs (RAPCAN 2009). In consequence, the services
provided by the Act are underutilised by children. Lisa Vetten (2009) reveals that in 48–69
per cent of reported cases of domestic violence, the complainant refers to abuse of others,
and in most cases these are children. Despite the significant exposure of children to
domestic violence, almost no complaints are made or protection orders sought in terms of
the Act, directly by or on behalf of children (Vetten 2009).
The attitudes of many police officers constitute a barrier to access to the protection services
afforded by the Domestic Violence Act. Police officers are reluctant to exercise the wide
protective powers of arrest afforded to them by the Act. The reluctance is premised on a
widespread perception among police officers that domestic violence is a ‘family matter’
which they have no right to involve themselves in (Legal Resources Centre & POWA 2009).
Despite the clear directive to police officers in terms of the Act and the undertakings
made by the SAPS to victims of domestic violence, many police officers do not provide
the necessary and prescribed services. This includes a failure in many cases to investigate
telephonic reports of domestic violence, as required, by sending out a police van; a failure
to assist with the service of court papers on the accused; a failure to refer complainants
to shelters or organisations that can assist them; a failure to assist complainants to obtain
medical assistance or to provide them with the necessary forms for completion by a
registered medical practitioner in the case of a criminal case being opened.
The reasons for these multiple failures include a lack of knowledge of their obligations by
police officers; a lack of training related to domestic violence services; lack of sufficient
resources, such as police vans and staff; lack of sufficient budget for the implementation
of the Act; and the deprioritisation of domestic violence cases by police officers, who
regard other criminal matters as being of greater urgency (Legal Resources Centre &
POWA 2009; RAPCAN 2009).
Child protection police services weakened
The specialised family violence, child protection and sexual offences (FCS) services
provided by the FCS units have been weakened by the restructuring of these units
undertaken by SAPS in 2006. The restructuring process saw the decentralisation of these
services from dedicated units which existed at area level downwards to station level. In
essence, this amounted to the dissolution of the units. The rationale behind this move was
explained as follows by the SAPS:
The abuse and violation of women and children takes place in a policing
precinct. The first place where a sexual offence against a child is reported is
at a police station. Currently FCS Units are not based at police stations, but at
separate offices a distance apart with a single unit often serving a total of 28
police stations. The police officials at these units are sometimes not readily
available after hours and over weekends which can result in a child-victim and
his or her parents waiting up to two to three days for expert assistance from the
police. (in Frank et al. 2008: 60)
The restructuring process has spread the services more widely, but has at the same time
weakened the FCS services provided by the SAPS (Frank et al. 2008). The restructuring
has resulted in, inter alia, the placement at station level of police officers to deal with
child protection and family violence who are not suitably qualified to provide these
services, who are not suitably experienced, who did not undergo specialised screening for
suitability, and who do not have some of the basic requirements, such as a driver’s licence.
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