Chapter 13 - Children in need of special protection - Children's ...

546The plight of children orphaned by AIDS may begin long before the death of their parents. Inhouseholds where a parent is dying, children are often pushed into roles that would beextremely stressful even for most adults. Many have to nurse their parents as they becomehelpless and incontinent and ultimately die. Older children frequently drop out of school due toheavy domestic responsibilities including care of their younger siblings as well as sick adults.After, and often before, becoming orphaned they will lack the resources for school fees, booksor uniforms. These children are often stigmatised and marginalised by the community due tomisplaced fears of contamination. They may be rejected by relatives for such reasons or due toeconomic considerations. Even if they are taken in by these people, there is still the risk ofabuse, neglect and exploitation. They may be caught up in child labour, delinquency,homelessness, street-life and prostitution, among other problems. 33 Children in these situationsface multiple risks including malnutrition, illness and every hazard arising from lack of themeans of survival, as well as those resulting from the absence of parental care and of normalsocialisation. Apart from needs such as food, shelter and clothing, orphans require psychosocialsupport to help them to cope with the trauma associated with the sickness and death oftheir parents and with remaining alone to face the challenges of life. 34 These children are alsovulnerable to early pregnancy. Without far-reaching interventions, the generation of childrenborn to them is likely to be caught up in the next stage of a cycle of severe neglect, exploitationand loss of human potential.Children who are HIV-positive or have AIDS, apart from being faced with debilitating illnessand early death, are vulnerable to discrimination and exclusion from basic services.13.3.3 South African law and practiceWhile the fundamental rights of children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS are protected in theConstitution, current legislation and administrative systems fail to ensure that they can realisethese rights.33Kalemba E “The Development of an Orphans Policy and Programming in Malawi” Paper presented atthe Southern African Conference on Raising the Orphan Generation, Pietermaritzburg, 9 - 12 June1998.