Browsing by Author "Fritzon, Mina Cecilie"

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    Preventing violence against children: A critical analysis of the relevance and feasibility of evidence-based practice in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Fritzon, Mina Cecilie; Lamb, Guy; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Violence against children (VAC) is one of the worst epidemics on the globe, and more than one billion children are exposed to violence yearly. In South Africa, there have been problems translating policies into practice and finding good strategies to address VAC, and many children are victims of violence. A plethora of methods for addressing violence have been proposed, with the seven INSPIRE strategies of World Health Organization (WHO) for the prevention of VAC being the most prominent. The INSPIRE programme is resourced and promoted through the Pathfinding programme, of which South Africa is a member state, obliging the government to act against VAC. However, adopting an international evidence-based practice for VAC in South Africa might be problematic, as little is known about the extent to which such evidencebased practice is relevant and feasible to South Africa. The thesis employs a qualitative approach, adopting an exploratory research design, due to the flexible and open-ended nature of the research questions. Moreover, the data that was collected was secondary in nature, namely data that already existed in the public domain. The thesis aims to undertake a critical desktop review of the relevance and feasibility of international evidencebased practice for the prevention of VAC in South Africa. It documents this by evaluating INSPIRE’s seven strategies for violence prevention and the relevance of these strategies to South Africa. Available evidence suggests that South African children experience risk factors for violence at multiple levels. Findings from the critical analysis shows that an adaption of INSPIRE in South Africa seem impractical, considering the current climate of implementation challenges, corruption, entrenched social and cultural norms and values, poor law enforcement and the impact of COVID-19. The study findings however provide insight into promising areas for future research and for possible VAC prevention interventions, while at the same time revealing that INSPIRE proves useful in identifying VAC prevention gaps South Africa needs to address.