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Swag Mama
The Council of Social Workers held a breakfast meeting in Harare on Thursday where various stakeholders discussed how they can effectively work together to ensure the best delivery to the most vulnerable members of society.

Disadvantaged children like orphans and victims of abuse are among the most vulnerable groups in society. These can be boys or girls.

At the meeting a video was shared detailing the strong spirit of a young boy from Masvingo province who survived an axe attack.

The boy lost a limb in the horrific attack but remained upbeat and he said he was fine going back home to the area where he had been attacked because the perpetrator had been arrested.

This shows that when there is justice and enough support children can overcome trauma and remain upbeat in their lives and hope for the future.

But a police officer at the meeting said that some children are not getting justice because there are not enough qualified people to work on the cases especially when children are victims of crimes committed by other crimes.

She said that juvenile offenders are not taken straight to court like other criminals and must be processed by probation officers first.

So there are some cases that are still waiting trial more than three years after the reports.

She said by the time the story goes to trial sometimes the victim will have forgotten the details of the crime and the offender gets away with it.

A representative also spoke about how those with disabilities, especially children are also facing many challenges.

She gave the example of how those with hearing and speaking impediments have problems communicating with health service providers and even the police.

Those at the meeting all agreed that they would work hard to ensure that social services will be improved so that children have someone to turn to.