08/12/2025
📢 16 Days of Activism | 25 November - 10 December
This 16 Days of Activism, we shine a light on the invisible victims of gender-based violence.
Children with disabilities face compounded risks, including heightened risk of violence and barriers to reporting.
· Globally, children with disabilities are 3 - 4 times more likely to experience violence compared to children without disabilities.1
· In South Africa, r**e accounts for 38.3% of all reported crimes against children, with common assault and assault with grievous bodily harm making up 45%.2
· Disabled children are often excluded from protection services, face communication barriers and are treated as unreliable witnesses in court.1
· Poverty, isolation, and lack of accessible support increase their vulnerability to abuse and exploitation.1
🔍 What can be done?
· Train frontline workers to recognize and respond to abuse in children with disabilities
· Ensure GBV services physically, linguistically, and emotionally accessible
· Include disability in GBV data collection to make invisible victims visible
· Support children with disabilities through inclusive education and develop safe and reliable reporting channels
This 16 Days of Activism, let us remember: Violence thrives in silence and exclusion. Inclusion is protection. Let’s make every child count.
🧡 From 16 Days of Activism to 365 Days of Action 🧡
1 Bekink, M. (2021). The Protection of Disabled Child Victims within the South African Criminal Justice System: Shining a Light on the Invisible and Forgotten Victims of Crime. Afr. Disability Rts. YB, 9, 23.
2 https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=17674
