ReviewChild abuse & neglect2020
Child protection and resilience in the face of COVID-19 in South Africa: A rapid review of C-19 legislation.
Review in Child abuse & neglect, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Child Maltreatment During COVID-19: Key Conclusions and Future Directions Based on a Systematic Literature Review.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2023Pooled it
- COVID-19 pandemic: health impact of staying at home, social distancing and 'lockdown' measures-a systematic review of systematic reviews.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2021Pooled it
- COVID-19 legislative response and challenges in Republic of Korea.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Emerging Adult Resilience to the Early Stages of the COVID-Pandemic: A Systematic Scoping Review.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Risks and opportunities for children's well-being in resource-constrained multigenerational households during COVID-19: Implications for school psychology interventions.School Psychology International · 2023Article
- Student resilience to COVID-19-related school disruptions: The value of historic school engagement.School Psychology International · 2023Article
- The Perceived Job Performance of Child Welfare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Clinical social work journal · 2023Article
- Child protective services during COVID-19 and doubly marginalized children: International perspectives.Child abuse & neglect · 2022Article
- One year into COVID-19: What have we learned about child maltreatment reports and child protective service responses?Child abuse & neglect · 2022Article
- How young people experienced COVID-19 disease containment measures in the Western Cape, South Africa: A qualitative study including the perspectives of young people, their parents, teachers and school counsellors.Psychology and psychotherapy · 2022Article
- 'The Pandemic Affected My Life in a Negative Way': The Experiences of Estonian Children in Child Protective Services During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.Children & society · 2021Article
- Violence against children during the COVID-19 pandemic.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2021Article
- Practitioners' and Policymakers' Successes, Challenges, Innovations, and Learning in Promoting Children's Well-being During COVID-19: Protocol for a Multinational Smartphone App Survey.JMIR research protocols · 2021Article
- Article
- Protecting children from maltreatment during COVID-19.Child abuse & neglect · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND & PURPOSE: In response to the COVID-19 (C-19) pandemic, the South African government instituted strict lockdown and related legislation. Although this response was well intended, many believed it advanced children's vulnerability to abuse and neglect. This article interrogates these concerns. It investigates how C-19 legislation enabled, or constrained, South African children's protection from abuse and neglect and appraises the findings from a social-ecological resilience perspective with the aim of advancing child protection in times of emergency.
methodThe authors conducted a rapid review of the legislation, directives and regulations pertaining to South Africa's strict lockdown (15 March to 31 May 2020). They searched two databases (SA Government platform and LexisNexus) and identified 140 documents for potential inclusion. Following full-text screening, 17 documents were reviewed. Document analysis was used to extract relevant themes.
findingsThe regulations and directives that informed South Africa's strict lockdown offered three protective pathways. They (i) limited C-19 contagion and championed physical health; (ii) ensured uninterrupted protection (legal and statutory) for children at risk of abuse; and (iii) advanced social protection measures available to disadvantaged households.
conclusionC-19 legislation has potential to advance children's protection from abuse and neglect during emergency times. However, this potential will be curtailed if C-19 legislation is inadequately operationalised and/or prioritises physical health to the detriment of children's intellectual, emotional, social and security needs. To overcome such risks, social ecologies must work with legislators to co-design and co-operationalise C-19 legislation that will not only protect children, but advance their resilience.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.