Protecting Children in Swaziland from Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation

Until recently, child protection focus has mostly been on individual protection problems, such as child trafficking, child labour and sexual abuse. The focus on different issues has contributed greatly to the protection of children and much has been learnt about what makes good child protection work. However, this approach has not been without its costs. Many children face multiple protection problems rather than just one, resulting in the focus on individual issues sometimes resolving one issue while leaving others untouched. This can be the case, for example, when children have been abused at home and are now working and living on the streets and are in conflict with the law. Fragmented child protection responses may deal with one of these problems but they rarely provide a comprehensive solution.