Child abuse is rampant in South Africa, with statistics like 1 in 3 children being abused before the age of 12, TEARS Foundation has developed software which enables medical professionals to track &record suspected abuse of children. This software, uses machine learning to detect children who are being abused on the 2nd or 3rd time being admitted to medical facilities for assistance, thus enabling the medical professionals to report cases, leading to more successful convictions!
The problem is three-fold 1 - The medical professions refuses to report cases of child abuse as they don't have substantial evidence to prove their suspicion even though they are considered professionals in their industry, this is not enough to convict a perpetrator. 2. Perpetrators often take children to different medical facilities to intentionally avoid detection, thus 88% of child abuse goes undetected 3. Medical facilities are still paper-based,
Clinicians from different medical facilities, linked to Medi-App will be enabled to track and record suspected abuse of children across facilities. As it is computer based software, all records will be captured on the system instead of paper only. This also encourages medical professionals to collaborate. Capturing the data on Medi-App will create substantial evidence needed to report abuse, & with more than 1 medical professional testifiying ensuring conviction of the perpetrators
Abused children experience abuse on a regular basis for long periods of time. Many of them grow up abusing others i.e. bullying, &/or grow up & abuse their children or their partners/spouses. Being abused & not allowed or able to speak about it, gives them a sense of isolation. Detecting them at a young age, gives them the ability to excel in life & limits the trauma they would deal with as adults, thus leaving our communities with healthy people, & perpetrators convicted and sentenced.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
