Children’s rights

Many South African children are born into a life of struggle. They may lack proper education, have drug addicted parents, be abused sexually, mentally or physically, be neglected or abandoned or run away from home. For those children that turn to a life of crime, they are imprisoned alongside seasoned adult criminals from the age of 14 onwards. Youngsters are forced to become members of violent gangs at a young age, as a way of protecting themselves out on the street. They are encouraged to carry out extreme acts of violence to become initiated into these gangs who educate new members about drugs, in turn leading to addictions and more problems. These are just a minority of the issues facing some of the youth within South Africa and interns are able to address these issues by making presentations and producing workshops in schools and places of safety, discussing the effect of drugs and gang culture and educating the youth about a better life. Volunteers are able to involve themselves in research regarding the legislative process or carry out comparative studies with the laws in their home countries. The education of parents on what constitutes a violation of a child’s right and how it can be redressed is also a matter of concern, and needs to be addressed.

There are a few projects which PAHRO is currently working on which focus on the rights of the child, for example Bonnytoun. Click here to find out more about our projects.