In a society increasingly defined by its scars, the Children’s Hospital Trust has chosen to focus not only on the wounds we can see, but also the ones that remain buried deep within.
As South Africa marks Child Protection Week 29 May – 5 June, the Trust is urging communities and institutions to pivot from mere reactive responses to a proactive commitment to safeguarding children’s rights.
In the 22 months since the launch of the Child Protection Project at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital , 566 child protection cases have been reported, a figure that tells only part of the story. Behind each statistic is a child, a family, a future hanging in the balance.
“We are seeing just the tip of the iceberg,” says Dr Fatima Khan, project coordinator of the Child Protection Improvement initiative. “We don’t see the children who are fatally injured, or those grazed by a bullet, or who have seen a family member killed and must live with the psychological impact of that.”
Khan’s words are a sobering reminder that some wounds aren’t visible on X-rays. Children arrive at the hospital with physical injuries, but many are also bearing the weight of trauma, neglect, and emotional loss,stories that play out silently in the hallways of the province’s only dedicated paediatric hospital.
“Treating the medical cases and healing the physical wounds is the easy part,” she adds. “It’s all about what happens after that.”
And what happens after is exactly what the Child Protection Project is designed to address. The Trust, through donor-funded efforts, is equipping healthcare workers with the training and tools to spot signs of abuse and neglect early and respond comprehensively. The aim? To ensure that no child slips through the cracks.
Each case handled through the programme receives a multidisciplinary care plan, from psychological support and social work referrals to legal guidance and medical follow-ups. It’s a full-circle approach: the little girl haunted by flashbacks is gently guided through trauma therapy, the child with no home is placed in safety, and the mother who once felt helpless is supported to rebuild her confidence and her life.
“Every child deserves a life free from fear. Every child deserves to be a child,” says Chantel Cooper, CEO of the Children’s Hospital Trust. “Not a day goes by without another story of violent crime. But for thousands of children, this isn’t news, it’s their everyday reality.”
According to Cooper, the need to act has never been more urgent. Society often reacts with outrage after tragedy,but proactive care, prevention, and protection require consistent commitment and community collaboration.
“Looking away is no longer an option,” Cooper insists. “You can make a tangible difference by joining our Child Protection Project.”
The call is clear. We must protect children not only from the visible abuse, but also from the systems and circumstances that allow their pain to go unnoticed. The Trust’s work is a reminder that healing doesn’t begin and end with a bandage or a hospital discharge, it extends to the acts of protection we choose to uphold.
This Child Protection Week, the Children’s Hospital Trust invites us to become guardians of hope, builders of safety, champions of change.
