An Incestuous Reality

By Nicole Hodnett

Ebina TATSUO, 
Yutaka HIROSE, Artist Assistant, Japan
'ear'
59.5cm X 42cm

Little patter of feet scuttle across the way, she has light brown hair and mesmerising matching brown eyes. She has lipstick in her hand and scribbles across the wall. Tumultuous joy seized the eyes of her mother as she stretched out her arms to welcome her loving little daughter and laughter etched across the room as she sees the message,

“I love you mommy”

Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment of a child or children. According to News24, one child is raped in South Africa every 3 minutes.

According to a report compiled by Solidarity Helping Hand in 2009, there were about 60 cases of child rape in South Africa, every day; more than 88% of child rapes were never reported.

According to parent24, children are being raped, murdered and abused by those they should be able to trust the most, their families.

The crime statistics are those reported to the police, and don’t express the reality of the violence which occurs in thousands of households across South Africa each day.

According to an article written by Scott Dunlop, there are weekly stories of family murders, brutal rapes of children, kids being assaulted and killed, often by whom they trust the most, their families.

In latest reported the Baby Jayden case renews concern over rickets and child abuse allegations. According to The Guardian, concern is mounting about dangerously low levels of vitamin D in pregnant women and two hospital failures to identify rickets after the death of Jayden Wray who suffered from this disease.

They were accused of killing their son and then robbed of their new-born daughter. The couple were blamed for shaking their rickets stricken baby to death, relive their horrific ordeal.

Jayda Wray was taken by social workers from her mother, Chana, now 19, the minute she was born in October 2010 and at just 17months, only just returned.

Children are suffering from a hidden epidemic of child abuse and neglect. Every year 3.3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving 6 million children. The United States have the worst record in the industrialized nation, losing five children everyday due to abuse related deaths.

Art for Humanity serves platform to the Women for Children campaign where poets and artists break silences on topic affecting open society today.

It is a fact that children are a blessing from the highest power. They are the mothers, fathers, Presidents and leaders of tomorrow, children are the future.

Little patter of feet scuttle across the way, she has light brown hair and mesmerising matching brown eyes. She has lipstick in her hand and scribbles across the wall. Anger seized the eyes of her mother as she stretched out her arms to reach for her belt as her loving little daughter waited in response, she beat her child to death before she looked at the message that said,

“I love you mommy”

Child abuse is a deathly reality.