LISTEN | Labour, organ harvesting among reasons for child trafficking: Dr Shaheda Omar

The horrifying statistic that a child goes missing every few hours is the tip of the iceberg as only those brought to the attention of authorities are accounted for.

This is according to Dr Shaheda Omar, director of the Teddy Bear Foundation for Abused Children, who explains why children go missing and what we can do about it.

Listen to Omar:

For syndicates, abducting defenceless children is an easy way to generate income, she says. Children are trafficked for a variety of purposes, including child labour and organ harvesting. At other times the reason may be random.

Omar says law enforcement and the home affairs department need to clamp down on illegal border crossing.

“We need to look at how the legislation can be tightened, and there needs to be accountability,” she said.

HOW TO KEEP CHILDREN SAFE

As kids go back to school she suggests adults, caregivers, children and schools be empowered and be on alert for suspicious activities and have resources to reach out.

• Regular communication: “Parents need to engage daily” around child safety issues.
• Ensuring children have supportive measures in place: “They should not be walking alone, even if they are just crossing the road to school.”
• Tight measures and clear instructions to schools: “The school also needs to look at particulars before a child is released.”
• Speak to children about safe and unsafe touches: Omar suggests, without instilling anxiety, that adults alert children on different incidents that can put them at risk.
• Emergency numbers: “Make children aware of contact numbers where they can reach out immediately.”

The first port of call should be reporting. “There is no need to wait for a few hours, and if a SAPS official says that, that's unacceptable, because every hour is critical in the life of that child,” Omar said.

TimesLIVE