LISTEN: 16 Days of Activism: Operation Bobbi Bear
Today marks day four of the 16 Days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children campaign. For our latest feature, Newswatch spoke with Operation Bobbi Bear - a human rights organisation based in Amanzimtoti, Durban, whose commitment to working with and assisting sexually abused children within KZN - has spanned over two decades.
The organization works with sexually abused children from birth to sixteen years of age, as well as sexually abused adults - who have a mental disability.
Since 2008, Operation Bobbi Bear has assisted over 10 000 child victims of sexual abuse.
It also functions as a drop-in centre, a counselling facility, and a community help desk for child sexual abuse. It further serves as a safe haven and temporary home to children who are seeking refuge from abuse and their abusers.
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According to the organization's website:
* The reported cases of child sexual abuse have increased by 400% in KZN in the past nine years.
* In KwaZulu-Natal, it is estimated that 51% of adults between 16 and 45 years are HIV+. Since this is the perpetrator age group for sexual abuse - child victims are at risk of contracting HIV.
* Rape and abuse charge dockets are difficult to complete due to language barriers - especially within rural communities - which often results in perpetrators being allowed to walk free, as the facts of the crime can't be effectively communicated.
Eureka Olivier is the Director of Operation Bobbi Bear. She says that despite the great strides they are making in helping to rescue victims of sexual abuse, the demand for assistance in KZN far outweighs their resources.
According to Olivier, the organization plays a pivotal role in the rescue and care of abused children .
"Operation Bobbi Bear has been working in our KZN communities for more than 20 years now. And we are an emergency rapid response operation, meaning that we will go out - the police call us, the schools, communities, churches - wherever a child is raped or beaten, abused or abandoned - everyone will call us, and we literally get in our cars and go and save that child."
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One of the key roles of the organization is to obtain forensic facts and evidence from child abuse victims - to assist criminal justice officials in prosecuting the abusers. They do this by applying therapeutic methods - with use of a 'Bobbi Bear'.
A 'Bobbi Bear' is a teddy bear for child victims of sexual abuse to use to communicate the nature of the abuse. It serves as a non-threatening means of getting abused children to speak-out about their abuse, and also provides the police and caregivers with a better understanding of actual events.
In recent years, the organization has expanded its reach to assisting women who are victims of domestic and sexual abuse - often mothers of child victims themselves.
"What happens is that a couple of years ago, Operation Bobbi Bear concentrated on - and what we all are trained in and specialized in is - the rape of children; rape and sexual abuse. But what we have found is that over the past two or three years, is all the other social issues that have come to the front. So we are getting called out where mothers are being beaten up, there's domestic violence in the home, alcohol abuse - how do we walk away from that?" Olivier said.
She says that the organization has dealt with hundreds of child abuse cases this year alone - but the worst is yet to come.
Each year over the December school holidays and Christmas break period, instances of children being sexually abused increases exponentially - due to an increase in alcohol abuse, and more children being at home over this time.
Olivier has been involved with the organization for over twenty years - but says that seeing a child coming through their doors - covered in blood and semen - never gets any easier.
She adds that being a mother and a grandmother has motivated her to continue helping vulnerable children - and helping to bring the perpetrators to book, for as long as she can.
The video below showcases the role of the Operation Bobbi Bear team, in helping police to ensure that child abusers are prosecuted for tehir crimes.
If you would like to get involved with Operation Bobbi Bear, and help make a difference in the lives of abused children, contact them here.