Adultification, neglect and sexual abuse at home: Selected narratives of orphaned girls in KwaMashu, South Africa
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Date
2023
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
John Wiley and Sons Inc
Abstract
This paper explores two orphaned girls' accounts of
victimization and vulnerability to child sexual abuse in
their family homes. Interviews with these girls revealed
a trend of neglect, adversity and processes of adultification
which involved accounts of sexual abuse within
their family homes. According to the data, the participants
are vulnerable and they experience victimization
as they are routinely sexually abused by older male
relatives and non-related men and boys inside their
family homes – where they are supposed to feel safe and
protected. We argue that these two young girls' experiences
need to be understood as consequences of the
prevailing cultures of toxic heteropatriarchal masculinities
which have produced and normalized the distribution
of male power over girls. The kinds of interventions
required to address toxic masculinities and to insulate
orphan girls from sexual abuse and neglect are also
discussed.
Description
Keywords
Victim blaming, Orphaned girls, Adultification, Child sexual abuse, Family home, Neglect
Citation
Ngidi, N. D., & Mayeza, E. (2023). Adultification, neglect and sexual abuse at home: Selected narratives of orphaned girls in KwaMashu, south africa. Children and Society, doi:10.1111/chso.12691