sign in sign up
<<
Home , Child abandonment

Improving knowledge on child and care in Africa : a demographic contribution to the achievement of child protection Valérie Delaunay

To cite this version:

Valérie Delaunay. Improving knowledge on child abandonment and care in Africa : a demographic contribution to the achievement of child protection. African Population Studies, Union for African Population Studies, 2011, 25 (1), pp.73-94. ￿halshs-02022118￿

HAL Id: halshs-02022118 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-02022118 Submitted on 17 Feb 2019

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

Improving knowledge on child abandonment and care in Africa: A demographic contribution to the achievement of child protection

Valérie Delaunay Institut de Recherche pour le Développement Laboratoire Population-Environnement-Développement (LPED-UMR151) BP 434 -101 Antananarivo - Madagascar [email protected]

Abstract Carrying out a focused literature review on child abandonment and care in Africa, this paper aims to show that the understanding of this question remains very incomplete, the classification of situations is unsettled and their measurement is lacking in terms of both prevalence and trends. Argumentation is founded on a conceptual framework that gives a central place to the concept of in the process of childcare, and that suggests determinant factors causing disruption and possible responses from or from institutions. Some socio-cultural and economic factors highlight disruptions in the process of . Responses to these disruptions are largely familial, but also institu- tional. Some circumstances can lead to abandonment or child endangerment. The anthropology of infancy gives a great deal of information on cultural and social foundations of abandonment and on systems of child circulation. Child demography remains focused on mortality, nutrition, education and birth registra- tion. Demographic analyses give few answers on disruption in child care. It appears important today to improve data collection in order to better understand 1) child status in the family and mechanisms of solidarity that involve children; 2) issues concerning and working children; 3) situation of child endangerment outside as well as inside the family. Thus, progress of social science research, particularly in demography, on these issues in Africa would give impor- tant results necessary for improving policies regarding child protection.

Keywords : Child abandonment; ; ; child care disruption; Africa.

Résumé S’appuyant sur une revue de la littérature sur l’abandon et la prise en charge des enfants en Afrique, cet article vise à montrer que cette problématique n’est pas explorée en profondeur, que la diversité des situations est mal connue et que les mesures font défaut, tant en terme de prévalence que de tendance. L’argumenta- tion se base sur un cadre conceptuel qui accorde une place centrale à la rupture de prise en charge de l’enfant. Les déterminants de ces ruptures sont discutés ainsi que les réponses possibles apportées par la famille ou les institutions. Des facteurs socio-culturels et économiques permettent de comprendre les sit- uations de rupture de prise en charge de l’enfant. Les réponses à ces ruptures http://aps.journals.ac.za 73 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

sont avant tout familiales, mais aussi parfois institutionnelles. Certaines circon- stances conduisent à des situations d’abandon ou de mise en danger de l’enfant. L’anthropologie de l’enfance apporte de nombreux éléments sur les fondements culturels de l’abandon et sur les systèmes familiaux de circulation des enfants en Afrique. Les analyses démographiques, quant à elles, sont centrées sur la mortal- ité, la nutrition, la scolarisation et l’enregistrement des naissances, et apportent peu d’éléments sur les situations de ruptures de prises en charge des enfants. Il est nécessaire aujourd’hui d’améliorer la collecte de données pour mieux com- prendre 1) le statut de l’enfant dans la famille et les mécanismes d’entraide qui impliquent les enfants ; 2) les situations des enfants des rues et des enfants tra- vailleurs ; 3) les situations de mises en danger de l’enfant en dehors comme au sein de la famille. Ainsi, la recherche en science sociale, particulièrement en démographie sur la question de la prise en charge de l’enfant en Afrique apporte- rait des éléments importants pour l’amélioration des politiques de protection de l’enfant en cours dans ces pays.

Mots clés : Abandon d'enfants; orphelins; infanticide; rupture de prise en charge; Afrique.

Introduction change over time of the value attrib- uted to children in the Western world Until recent years, child protection in and the emergence of the concept of Africa was not a social issue. “There ‘proper childhood’ (Panter-Brick 2000: were no formal mechanisms to protect 4). In , the historian Philippe children, but then none would have Ariès’ work on representations of child- been necessary. Abundant land, a sub- hood have shown how concepts related sistence economy, and the highly devel- to childhood have changed from the oped sense of generosity due to all Middle Ages to the Modern Period family members, underwrote the sup- (Ariès 1975). The child’s specificity – port obligation” (Bennett 1993: 33). socially considered as a miniature adult Over the last decades, children’s rights – was overlooked during the Middle issues are increasingly seen to be of Ages. High child mortality impedes international concern. Child protection and fathers to provide atten- policy in Africa is today mostly guided tive care to their children. The child’s by an international agenda referring to specificity and his or her relevance the United Nations Convention on the gradually appear during the Modern Rights of the Child (1989). This legal Period. ’ attachment to their setting “asserts a number of rights for children has increased with birth con- children worldwide, sets out basic prin- trol and fertility decline, along with the ciples to be applied, and creates a legal downward trend of infant mortality obligation to put these rights and princi- since the end of the eighteenth century. ples into practices” (Panter-Brick 2000: Throughout the nineteenth century, the 10). recognition of the value of the child or Discourse about childhood has pro- childhood has been enhanced in the gressed during the twentieth century in Western world resulting in the formula- developed countries, reflecting the tion of the first official texts on child 74 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) protection at the onset of the twentieth “childhood protection”. Children are century (Rollet 1990). vulnerable and can experience differ- The first Declaration of the Rights ent forms of violence, , of the Child, known as the “Geneva neglect and exploitation. States must Declaration,” was adopted in 1924 by protect them. These organizations have the League of Nations. The Universal agreed to implement effective child Declaration of Human Rights – incorpo- protection policies through the ratifica- rating specific provisions concerning tion of international documents includ- child protection – was adopted by the ing the Convention on the Rights of the General Assembly of the United Child (1989). Efforts were carried out Nations in 1948. The Declaration of the by international organizations to pro- Rights of the Child, adopted in 1959 by duce indicators measuring the level of the United Nations, aimed at bringing vulnerability and tracking progress child-appropriate and child-specific (ODEROI 2006; UNICEF 2003; 2007a; legal protection. Beginning in 1989, 2007b; 2009). Results are quantitative- African States promised to implement based and mostly indicate trends in measures to protect children in line child survival (mortality levels, probable with the Convention on the Rights of causes of death, malnutrition, immuni- the Child proposed by the General zation) and education (school enrol- Assembly of the United Nations. This ment rates). Convention was followed by the Afri- Although research on child protec- can Charter on the Rights and tion has made important progress in of the African Child adopted by the 26th developed countries (Leventhal 2003), Ordinary Session of the OAU Assembly there are, admittedly, gaps in terms of of Heads of States and Governments description, definitions and understand- held in Addis Ababa in 1990. Through- ing of the different aspects of child pro- out this period, political instruments tection in Africa (Lachman 2004). Many were established, among which the of them are unknown. There is little United Nations International Children's documentation on: 1) situations of vio- Emergency Fund (UNICEF), created in lence, neglect, child abuse, and aban- 1976, which has largely contributed in donment; 2) conditions of childcare the formulation of texts and interna- including for ; and 3) institu- tional policies, and the Committee on tional responses. The difficulties in the Rights of the Child, created in 1991, studying these questions partly result which examines the progress made by from the fact that the perception of the signatory States of the Convention. child abuse pertains, particularly in Today, all understanding about Africa, to the private and family sphere childhood, particularly in Africa, is (Lachman 1996). Child sexual abuse in strongly determined by the leading Africa is only addressed in some coun- international organizations’ (United tries (particularly in South Africa) and Nations Development Program, World for specific groups (in particular Health Organization, World Bank, through clinical cases) (Lalor 2004). The UNICEF) view on childhood: an collected data is incomplete and often approach based on the concept of anecdotal, and is used to justify recom- http://aps.journals.ac.za 75 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) mendations concerning the implemen- AIDS, are related to childcare issues. tation of child protection policies. What happens during a crisis when nat- It appears important today to bet- ural guardians are no longer able to ter assess and understand childhood care for the child? What solutions are issues. There is a widely recognized provided within the family circle? What need for reliable data and joint defini- are the existing family and social con- tions and for on-going efforts to trols in the face of family care disrup- strengthen data collection and indicator tions that are endangering children? monitoring, and develop research on What solutions are suggested by the child abuse and neglect and on impedi- civil society and the State? ments to child protection (Lachman The need for definitions and an 1996; 2004; UNICEF 2007b). explicative framework has never been Given the lack of data, international so urgent. To establish prevention and organizations base their view on the so- action policies (expected by interna- called “a priori” approach, based on M. tional bodies), there is a need: 1) to Singleton’s expression (Singleton 2004). understand child circulation; 2) to dis- Knowledge today – anecdotal or based tinguish placements in the interests of on case studies – is used as a good or children from processes leading to child bad example in relation to certain ethics exploitation or from social and cultural or moral codes, blaming or promoting exclusion; 3) to separate transitional sit- actors and practices, and aimed at pro- uations – deserving an urgent response tecting vulnerable children. This – from permanent situations calling for approach only permits observation of an answer in the long run; finally, 4) to violence in extreme cases and the com- understand cultural foundations of plexity of situations and behaviors some rejection behaviors. throughout societies and cultures. To synthesize knowledge about How can research contribute in childhood, a thorough literature over- developing elements enabling an a pos- view of social science studies on African teriori reflection on childhood protec- societies was carried out. This review tion? The review of available studies in aims at establishing distinctions to bet- social sciences (Bonnet 1997; Goody ter define different behaviors, situations 1982; Lachman 1996; 2004; Lallemand and processes and at building an effec- 1993; Panter-Brick 2000) has high- tive explicative and operational frame- lighted child care as a central issue work. The work of ethnologists on within the concept of childhood protec- African societies provides a description tion. Whether children are cared for of cultural representations of childbear- within or outside the family, or by insti- ing, whose principles organize kinship, tutions, the disruption – total or partial gender, status and power relations. The – leads to children’s exploitation, ill- child’s position at birth within his or her treatment, neglect or abandonment. family and the circumstances of his or Adversities faced by children world- her exclusion become very explicit as wide such as , war, family dislo- soon as they are set within representa- cation (death of a or divorce), tions. The sociology and anthropology family violence, abandonment and HIV/ of childhood made it possible to high- 76 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) light the plurality of childhood and its we examine child circulation systems social foundations that vary widely that respond to childcare crises. Yet, throughout the world. The child is not today these systems display “per- an individual’s or a couple’s child, but verted” forms whose consequences are belongs to the lineage, the “extended detrimental for children. Lastly, the family” or the “big family” according to concept of childcare is addressed and the established expressions. Circula- will be at the core of the designed tion systems within kinship or the social explanatory framework on childhood network allow children to be cared for protection. Operational proposals have during crises (separation, death, dis- been put forward. ease, loss of employment, large fami- Anthropological, sociological and lies) when guardians, more often the demographic literature has been con- biological father or , are unable sulted. Extensive searches were con- to do so. ducted of all major relevant electronic The issue of child abandonment and databases (Jstor, Popline, Sciences care arises within a social and cultural Direct, Blackwell) as well as hand context characterized on the one hand searches of selected journals and by representation and norm systems in books. which rejection behaviors1 are mean- ingful, and on the other hand by child Cultural and social founda- circulation and fostering practices (Lal- tions of abandonment lemand 1993). Admittedly, abandon- ment can only be understood within its Infanticide: abandoned practices? specific cultural, social and historical Representation systems of the child- context (Panter-Brick and Smith 2000). bearing process generally confer a life- Abandonment takes various forms that giving breath on a spirit or divinity that can lead to the child’s death (infanticide will thus provide a full-fledged social practice), to a growing number of status for the newborn baby. The nam- street children (child abuse and neglect) ing ceremony is often the landmark of and child domestic workers (exploita- this passage and takes place a certain tion) and can also be connected to child time after birth. Some “abnormal” fosterage – temporary or permanent – births (deformed children, twins, for the child’s sake (the giving of a breech birth, etc.) have been subject to child). infanticide, generally immediately, while This paper aims to review existing the child is “at the doorstep of life”. literature on child abandonment and This act is not assimilated to a murder, care in Africa and to suggest an opera- all the more so since the real being will tional and explanatory framework. come back within another body: “Mak- First, we analyze the cultural and social ing him die is not elimination but a post- foundations of child abandonment, ponement. He remains an immediate making it possible to understand rejec- candidate for a coming life” (Erny 1988: tion practices and question their disap- 277). pearing and/or current change. Second, These abnormal children or births

1. Including infanticide. http://aps.journals.ac.za 77 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) are believed to be an evil sign, a curse and Reidpath 2001). or witchcraft – a harmful situation for Twins are often subject to specific the family and friend circle leading to treatments. Their arrival can be inter- the death or exposure of the child. The preted positively, like among the Ked- survival of the mother, the parents and jom from Cameroon ((Diduk 1993; even the clan depends on it. These 2001). However, they have often expe- practices meet social obligations involv- rienced significant discrimination (Ball ing the whole group; their justification is and Hill 1996). In the Igbo cultural area “an order (both cultural and natural) located in southeast Nigeria, twins that must face disorder” (Singleton were systematically eliminated since 2004: 26). they were considered to be an abomi- Ethnological studies have described nation towards the earth divinity many practices, often from the past, of (Achebe 1967). Among the M’bali of infanticide or abandonment of children Angola, twins were murdered because born in “extra-ordinary” circumstances their birth represented a disaster for (related to the time of childbirth, the the whole country (Erny 1988). Among child’s position, twinship) or, showing a the Antambahoaka of southeast Mada- special feature or a visible handicap gascar, twins were eliminated through (teeth, deformity, albino children). the witch doctor’s intervention to pro- Therefore, some children are sus- tect the children’s parents (Van Gennep pected to be ghosts: “those who are 1904). Nevertheless, most of these born to die” (Lolo 1991). In traditional studies mention field observations societies of southern Cameroon, “new- rather from the past. Renne and Bastian born babies, afflicted with an important report that ethnologists paid attention organic disease, were doomed to death to the question of twins in the 1920s, including autistic children” (Lolo, 1991). then in the late 1960s and in the 1970s, In Benin, deformed children and new- but there are only a few studies today borns whose mothers had died in deliv- (Renne and Bastian 2001). ery or had an “abnormal” labor (labor Today, we presume that infanticide dystocia) were victims of infanticide practices have ended under the influ- (Agossou 2003; Mattern 2007). Among ence of religious missionaries who the Changa in northern Tanzania, infan- played a significant role in the break ticide occurred in the case of abnormal with these ancestral infanticide prac- births, deformed newborns and twins tices during the colonial period (Bastian (Raum 1967; Singleton 2004). In Ghana 2001). Alternative practices are deformed children born with teeth or reported; these intend to make “extra- born after their mother had a difficult ordinary” children and their genitors pregnancy are suspected to be spirits. If pay a fine (through dances and ceremo- the spirit is uncovered, he cannot stay nies) to clear them of all suspicion (Sin- in the world. The child must take a poi- gleton 2004). Furthermore, in most sonous potion. If the child survives, he countries laws labeling infanticide as a or she is left in the bush for two nights; were implemented, making it ille- if he or she lives through it, the child gal and punishable by law. The estab- can again take his or her place (Allotey lishment of foundling homes for 78 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) disabled children or twins has contrib- establish a reliable measurement. Nev- uted highly in abating infanticide and ertheless, one example must be men- exposure practices by providing an tioned. In northern Ghana, the Nav- acceptable option for parents. Never- rongo Demographic Surveillance Site is theless, are we really able to say today a study area where accurate and that infanticide practices have totally repeated surveys enabled these prac- disappeared? Moreover, even if these tices to be uncovered. The analysis of “extraordinary” children are no longer causes of neonatal deaths over a 7-year killed, are they still victims of discrimi- period (1995-2002) has shown that nation? infanticide accounted for 5% of all neo- Today children are known to be vic- natal deaths (Baiden et al. 2006). tims of discrimination, labeled as emo- Although this indicator fails to be pro- tional neglect (Lolo 1991), social duced elsewhere, it would be very use- neglect (Bonnet 1997) or symbolic ful in guiding action programs. Data abandonment (Ezembé 2003) from registration must be improved in order their mothers or their social groups to develop statistics on the future of complying with some beliefs. Among these children born in “abnormal” cir- the Igbos of Nigeria, twin-murder is not cumstances. This lies in particular on socially valued anymore. Nevertheless, the improvement of vital event registra- behaviors putting physical distance (fos- tion (birth, death). terage of a twin) or social distance Extra marital births: another (refusal to dress twins identically, twin’s rejection factor birthday not shared) have been European historical demography stud- observed (Bastian 2001). A recent qual- ies have shown that the stigma of illegit- itative study shows that infanticide imate birth is one of the main causes of among the Antambahoaka of Madagas- child abandonment between the seven- car has shifted into abandonment, by teenth and the twentieth centuries entrusting children either to distant rel- (Fuchs 1992; Morel 2003). Illegitimate atives or to shelters established since children born from single or adulterous the late 1980s. Some parents may mothers are not accepted within fami- choose to bring up their twins but then lies. In the seventeenth century, these become victims of discrimination (Fern- births constituted most of the children andes 2008). cared for in foundling homes. In the However, it is still very difficult to eighteenth century, the Church intro- define precisely the discriminatory duced a system allowing babies to be practices (towards children but also abandoned anonymously to preserve towards parents who choose not to the bourgeoisie from the dishonor of respect the ban), to assess them and to out-of-wedlock births. This system is ensure an end to infanticide practices. known as foundling wheels; in France Studies on contemporary infanticide they are called “abandonment towers, practices are nearly nonexistent. There [which are] revolving hatches with two is a dearth of data and the underreport- doors that made it possible to take care ing of births in the civil registration sys- of the baby without delay while ignoring tem does not make it possible to the identity of the one who is abandon- http://aps.journals.ac.za 79 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) ing the child” (Morel 2003). marital sexuality and fertility is huge and This procedure of anonymity exists some of them suggest a relation in France where mothers can give birth between premarital fertility and child without declaring their identity, known abandonment. In Cameroon, the grow- as “childbirth under X,”2 highly ques- ing number of abandoned children is tioned by the defenders of the right to seen as one of the most dramatic signs know one’s origins (Faqué 2004; Guillin of socio-economic marginalization a- 1996; Iacub 2003). The introduction of mong single mothers and their children birth control in the mid-twentieth cen- (Calvès 2006). Children cared for in tury and the liberalization of abortion institutions (day nurseries or orphan- across Europe has allowed access to an ages) are often abandoned or entrusted effective prevention of unwanted births by single mothers. This is particularly and an equivalent reduction of aban- the case in Algeria, where a study car- donments. In France, the proportion of ried out in the 1980s has shown that children abandoned at birth is esti- abandoned children – whose numbers mated at 1 per 1000 in 1966 (Marinop- are growing regularly – were nearly oulos 1997). exclusively born from young single As it was in Europe in the past, sex- mothers (Lacoste-Dujardin 1986). Like- uality before or outside is wise in Tunisia, the fear of family pun- often highly stigmatized in Africa. Liter- ishment leads single mothers to commit ature on adulterous births is very scarce infanticide or to abandon their children for the reason that paternity in Africa is (Lamari and Schlürings 2000; Zemni et more social than biological, ensured by al. 2000). A study in Senegal analyzed the dowry payment (Mouvagha-Sow 33 psychiatric experts’ reports on infan- 2006). In consequence, the husband is ticides between 1968 and 1994. Only naturally the father of all births by his two cases of mental diseases have been wife. Adultery is often seen as a threat identified. Most of these cases (30 out to the embryo, provoking abortion of 33) concern single or married because of incompatibility between the women whose husbands have migrated husband’s and the lover’s semen (Menick 2000). Another study in Sen- (Hurault 1987). In this circumstance, egal illustrates unfaithfulness as a cause acknowledged ‘adulterous children’ are of neo-naticide (Sow et al. 1989). A rare. Births from an adulterous liaison hospital-based study in Brazzaville men- are today more visible in the case of a tioned the cases of nine newborns, who husband’s long-term migration. But had been abandoned and were hospi- adultery often takes place inside the talized for prematurity or neonatal family so that the migrant husband is infection in 1997. All the mothers were socially constrained to recognize the young (three-quarters were minors) child (Barou 2001). and seven of them were single (Miakay- On the contrary, literature on pre- izila, Ganga-Zandzou and Mayanda

2. “Childbirth under X” is the possibility for a mother to give birth without declaring her identity. In concrete terms, this means that the child is entrusted into care for and will never be able to know the identity of his or her biological mother unless she asks for it. 80 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

2000). A study carried out in Tanzania responsibilities. In Africa, the giving of a on 14 indictments for infanticide issued child does not “require the establish- by the Supreme Court of Justice of Dar ment of a distance between the giver es Salaam showed that three-quarters and the one who adopts, and even less of these cases concerned teenagers a secret” (Journet 2004). The giving of a (Rwebangira 1994). Clearly, the fear of child is not shameful and the caregivers family and social rejection leads young are gratified. The giving of the child single mothers and some adulterous generally occurs when the child is auto- mothers to resort to the abandonment nomous and the contact with biological of newborns or even infanticide. parents is not broken (Ezembé 1997; 2003). Thus, ‘[….] in Africa, […], the Family systems of child content of the terms “abandonment” circulation [and] “adoption” has a completely other meaning, for one thing because In many African societies, a system the child belongs more to the group exists for giving a child as a gift, thus than to [his or her] birth parents’ (Lalle- enabling children to circulate within the mand 1988). Child transfers – tempo- since they belong to rary or permanent – are common the lineage rather than to birth parents. within kinship. The traditional system of child circula- Today growing urbanization and tion ranges from temporary and not changes of the mode of production exclusive fosterage to exclusive dona- modify the social and economic family tion of a child resulting in the child’s organization and consequently the adoption. Factors leading to child circu- place and role of the child within the lation vary from a response to a family family. Several studies presented below crisis (parental death, divorce, migra- highlight two aspects: 1) is tion) to a need for domestic assistance becoming diversified and crises endan- or a lack of children in the case of steril- gering children (labor, physical or sexual ity (Bledsoe 1990; Castle 1995; Goody abuse) are appearing; 2) The family sup- 1982; Jonckers 1997; Lallemand 1988; port system for child members of the 1993; Madhavan 2004; Rabain 1979). lineage – responding to compelling fam- These practices aim at creating or ily solidarity – is weakened, nowadays, strengthening solidarity and kinship due to the growing demand and hard- relationships. These links are settled ships. within a family and social organization that is guided by a burden-sharing prin- New forms of circulation ciple applied to the whole family net- The pattern of circulation of children work (Antoine et al. 1995; Marie 1997; through social exchange tends to diver- Oppong 1999; Pilon and Vignikin 2006). sify. Child transfers are also sometimes The giving of a child prevails over motivated by economic reasons. For child abandonment among the adoption several decades, schooling access is a practices described by anthropologists. cause for entrusting a child to the care There is no breaking-off with biological of an urban family in exchange of some parents even when the giving of the domestic work (Jacquemin 2002; Jon- child is exclusive with a total transfer of ckers 1997; Vandermeersch 2002). http://aps.journals.ac.za 81 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

Rural poverty also leads families to send adults, resulting in a loss of income. their children to seek work in town. Then, a high fertility level implies that This situation tends to be generalized, households must take care of many with a growing number of teenagers, orphans at a time. This system of family increasingly young, who leave rural support is highly compromised by the areas to seek supplementary income HIV epidemic, resulting in growing when the agricultural schedule permits needs for outside care (Madhavan it (Delaunay, Adjamagbo and Lalou 2004; Miller et al. 2005; Mishra and Big- 2006; Erulkar et al. 2006). nami-Van Assche 2008). Then, child placement shifts into a Moreover, few studies have focused kind of service or work (Oppong 1997). on the consequences of out-of-wedlock Unlike harmonious traditional transfers births on families. The care of a foster within kinship, transfers that are nowa- teenage mother and/or her child will days developing under certain con- affect the living conditions of the foster straints may put the child in a situation family who takes on the extra burden of of high vulnerability or even danger. one or two non-productive persons. In These children are at risk of different addition, the number of births of single types of discrimination (nutritional, mothers is growing because of marriage work, violence including sexual abuse). delay and the increase of adolescent Access to the labor market depends at sexuality (Delaunay and Guillaume first on family networks that are getting 2007). This additional increasingly structured and organized may contribute to calling family solidar- and in which family control is excluded ity for childcare into question. more and more. The risks of drift are important and these aspects would Child protection’s research deserve deeper investigation. Thus, perspectives current models of child circulation are related to perverted forms of socially Actions on child protection in Africa are justified models. now largely driven by the United Nations Convention on Child Rights, Childcare due to family “obligation”: and governments are often supported have limits been reached? in policy implementation by interna- Family obligations can also impose tional agencies such as UNICEF. childcare. A child becoming orphaned is Despite efforts developed by this therefore usually fostered by his or her agency to improve knowledge on child closest kin (Goody 1982; Lallemand abuse and neglect (UNICEF 2007a; 1993). 2009), actions on child protection still Nevertheless, in some regions need better knowledge and validation today, the number of orphans is tools. A deeper assessment and under- increasing in the context of the HIV/ standing of basic issues that children are AIDS epidemic. Families coping with facing appears today as a necessity in the loss of their most productive mem- order to improve the effectiveness of bers have difficulty taking on additional childhood protection programs (Lach- orphan care giving. First, households man 2004). In particular, it seems nec- must provide care for AIDS-infected essary to identify factors that determine 82 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) endangered situations for children and leading to family breakdown (disease, to highlight mechanisms of disruption in death, union dissolution) – temporary childcare. This paper suggests a con- or permanent. Childcare disruptions ceptual and explanatory framework may be assessed on an intensity scale aiming at a comprehensive view of dif- (ranging from partial to total) and ferent aspects related to child abuse according to several dimensions (emo- and neglect. This framework aims to identify progress and further needed tional and financial). These disruptions efforts. can directly lead to child endangerment (maltreatment, neglect, street life, labor Conceptual and explanatory exploitation, sexual abuse, prostitu- framework tion). Conditions leading to family The analysis of this literature enables breakdown and rejection behavior can the formalization of a conceptual and explanatory framework of child endan- be related; this link may grow in situa- germent situations (Figure 1). Childcare tions of political, family, social or eco- disruptions can first result from rejec- nomical crisis. In other words, cultural tion situations – culturally and socially foundations may constitute a pretext dictated – and then from conditions for abandonment during a crisis.

Adult mortality (HIV/AIDS, Impoverish- Urbani- maternal War ment zation mortality)

Social and Cultural Factors Family Breakdown Factors (disability, twinship, out-of-wedlock births)

Childcare disruption

Kinship foster Institutional care (public and private) No care care

Fosterage Adoption Partial Permanent National and Foster Street children care institutional international family Labor/sexual care adoption exploitation Endangered

Figure 1Conceptual and explanatory framework

Nevertheless, some alternative solu- can be permanent and considered an tions exist. Except in some exceptional adoption (formal or not). Some foster- cases where the child is considered an age can be more temporary, as for evil sign and is rejected by the whole example grandparents’ fosterage society (Lolo 1991; Singleton 2004; Sin- because of their old age or their scarce gleton 2005), an extended family is usu- resources. So, inside the kinship, we ally able to take care of children in case can suppose that child care can be of childcare disruption. This fosterage evolving, the child alternatively sup- http://aps.journals.ac.za 83 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) ported by different family members, ily does not always succeed in meeting sharing by that way the burden of an these expectations. The child can then extra-child to feed, clothe and send to experience a new care disruption. On school. the other hand, solidarities change and Another alternative solution is insti- respond to a rationality that can lead to tutional care, both private and public. selective and self-interested placements This support can be permanent such as – young put to work as servants, long-term placement until adult age or for example. adoption (national or international). It Likewise, not all conditions of insti- can also be temporary and/or partial: tutional childcare are known. The lack numerous NGOs offer daycare aiming of public financial and technical means at improving nutritional status and does not allow for coordination of schooling; others offer temporary full actions for childhood protection – a dif- time care until reintegration within a ficult task due to the growing number family. Except in cases of endangered of civil society stakeholders. Many children, international recommenda- research areas need to be investigated, tions today suggest that institutional whether they concern children cared long-term placement be the last option for within or outside the family. as a family environment is considered Operationalization best for the child’s well-being (United The operationalization of the concep- Nations 2009). tual and explanatory framework Studies on these issues make it pos- requires different qualitative and quan- sible to understand some mechanisms, titative methods to be articulated by in particular those related to rejection analyzing existing data and organizing and family breakdown. However, new data collections. From a quantita- efforts are needed to assess levels and tive viewpoint, various data can be trends. Many questions remain: What used. Demographic surveillance sys- are the current forms and intensity of tems (DSS) are sources of local but rejection behaviors? In what ways are accurate and high quality demographic families changing? Do family structures data (INDEPTH Network 2002). These have an unfavorable impact on child- systems do monitor, more or less long- care? term, household members, migrations Management mechanisms of care and vital events, and some of them do disruptions are poorly known and register changes in marital status and deserve an in-depth analysis. Condi- kinship ties between household mem- tions of child placement within the bers (Delaunay et al. 2006). An analysis extended family during crisis must be of this data would be very informative investigated. On the one hand, crisis on family breakdown patterns or out of factors – those that entail family break- wedlock births and the different subse- down – seem to be context-based (war, quent mechanisms of kinship foster HIV epidemic, impoverishment) and care and adoption. Moreover, such sites affect the extended as well as the close as Navrongo in Ghana may also help family. The burdens add up for the most identify infanticide practices (Baiden et resilient families and the extended fam- al. 2006). Furthermore, these surveil- 84 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) lance systems make it possible to follow a rise in child placement. up the processes of childcare within From a qualitative viewpoint, some families and thus the future of children fields would be “revisited,” in particular who are socially and culturally rejected previously identified situations of child (Adjamagbo, Delaunay and Mondain endangerment. In addition, the qualita- 2009). tive approach leads to better under- Likewise, national censuses and standing of the processes and can ar- large-scale surveys, such as the Demo- ticulate with the quantitative approach: graphic and Health Surveys (DHS) allow downstream from quantitative results for the analysis of household structures to shed light on and illustrate certain and child placement. These data are results, but can also be upstream for nationally representative and can be the establishment of quantitative per- analyzed to describe differentials and formance tools. changes in household structures and The resources offered by the social measure level and trends of fosterage sciences of childhood can enable not (Vandermeersch 2002). only understanding of the dynamic of The biographical approach through family care systems for children and the collection of demographic events their instances of disruption, but also and life stories can also permit an the systems of institutional care that understanding at the family level of have been organized in response (State, events leading to the child’s loss of fam- civil society) and therefore fully partici- ily protection. At the child level, the pate in the development of public poli- biographical approach can permit a cies and development actions. description of successive living patterns according to children’s family history Discussion (Bonvalet and Lelièvre 1995; IPEC This article has aimed to formulate a 2007; Lelièvre, Bonvalet and Bry 1997). review of knowledge on child abandon- Lastly, other institutional data ment and care in the African context (archives, shelter registers) may also be and to propose an explanatory and used to sustain these studies. Demo- operational framework. The overall graphic tools can be applied to identify finding is that, even though the sociol- and characterize child centers, number ogy and anthropology of childhood pro- of children by age and sex, reasons of vides a qualitative insight into various placement, reasons of exit, and other patterns – both past and present – of context data that can help to under- childcare in Africa, understanding stand mechanisms of child placement or remains quite compartmentalized, the abandonment. An important question classification of situations remains that could be addressed would be to unsettled and the quantification of vari- evaluate which children among those in ous phenomena is lacking, in terms of institutions are really abandoned and both prevalence and trends. which are fostered by convenience; in However, the legal context has other terms, it could highlight to what increasingly required that issues of extent the existence of child care cent- abandonment, maltreatment and situa- ers could be the main reason to explain tions of child endangerment be consid- http://aps.journals.ac.za 85 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) ered in actions for child protection. The (United Nations 2008). context of that Nevertheless, few findings have involves many countries has further been produced and understanding of reinforced this need. The Convention the issue remains little more than on the Rights of the Child, proposed in approximate descriptions of the situa- 1989, has been ratified by all the coun- tions and measurements of their preva- tries (193 States) including those in lence levels, trends, causes and conse- Africa. Confronted by identified situa- quences. Only an increase in the tions concerning “child victims,” such as number of journalistic testimonies4 and child soldiers and child or visible increase of stakeholders in the trafficking, optional protocols have field of child protection (international been proposed.3 The Committee on agencies, NGOs)5 reflect the diversity the Rights of the Child established in and complexity of the situations that 1991 is the organ in charge of oversee- arise. ing that the States meet the contracted The demographical void concerning obligations related to the Convention the situation of children’s care is mean- on the Rights of the Child. Each State ingful. The lack of statistics on the prev- must produce an initial report two alence, trends and causes of the various years following ratification of the con- types of child transfers, abandonments vention, then a report every five years. and rejections is particularly striking. These reports are examined and fol- Nevertheless, disruptions in children’s lowed by “observations.” The Commit- care are quite real. The main causes of tee on the Rights of the Child em- these disruptions are probably still pov- phasizes the need for the States Parties erty and the social and cultural stigmati- to organize systematic monitoring of zation of certain types of births (“extra- implementation of children’s rights by ordinary” births, illegitimate births). establishing appropriate indicators and Confronted with ever-present, if not collecting sufficient and reliable data increasing, poverty in Africa, the

3. On 1 February 2008, on the closing day of the eighty-seventh session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, 193 States Parties signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child. An updated list of the States that have signed the Convention or that have deposited instruments of ratification or accession can be consulted on the following sites: www.ohchr.org or http://untreaty.un.org. On the same date, 119 States Parties ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and 122 States have signed. Also, on the same date, 124 States Parties have ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and 115 States have signed. The updated list of States that have signed the two Optional Protocols or have deposited an instrument of ratification or accession can be consulted on the website www.ohchr.org. United Nations. 2008. “Report of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. General Assembly. Official Documents. Sixty- third Session.” New York: United Nations. 4. In urban areas, the cases of newborns found in public places, as underscored by the press, and street children are increasingly visible. 5. Increases in the number of predominantly established through religious or charitable initiatives bear witness to the fact that children find themselves in situations of abandonment and great vulnerability. 86 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) increase in unwanted pregnancies and well-being has been addressed by some births (Bearinger et al. 2007; Bledsoe authors (Castle 1995; Gage 1997; Gyi- and Cohen 1993; Brown et al. 2001; mah 2009) as, more recently; the role Delaunay and Guillaume 2007; Meekers of grandparents (Aubel, Touré and 1994; Singh 1998; WHO 2007), the Diagne in press; Zimmer and Dayton continued difficulty in accessing abor- 2005). But some essential indicators are tion (Guillaume and Molmy 2003) and still missing. First, some issues are the excessive high rates of maternal under-researched. This applies to mortality (UNICEF 2009), it could be street children, belonging to the cate- thought that the number of abandon- gory used by UNICEF ‘children in espe- ments tends to increase. Added to this cially difficult circumstances’ (Black situation is the rising number of AIDS 1996), who are excluded in the DHS orphans and the issue of their care, fur- sample, because this survey is drawn on ther supporting this hypothesis. households’ base. In the same category, Unquestionably, children’s care contin- despite recent efforts to estimate their ues to be a current issue that, from a prevalence6, working children remain two-sided perspective, simultaneously underdeclared in surveys, in particular reaches across human rights and public domestic children who are well known health. as prevalent in Africa (Delaunay and Until now, questions related to Enel 2009; Destremau and Lautier addressed in African popu- 2002; Jacquemin 2002). Second, if some lation studies have focused on mortality children are in any situation of abandon- (Adetunji 2000; Ahmad, Lopez and ment outside family, a large part of the Inoue 2000; Baiden et al. 2006; Etard et others live with their kin and familial al. 2004; Rutstein 2000), nutrition (Sim- solidarity allows them (more or less) to ondon et al. 2003; Smith et al. 2003), confront crisis situations. These pro- birth registration (Unicef 1998) and cesses should also be documented and education (Lloyd and Blanc 1996; Pilon better understood, in particular situa- and Yaro 2001). The main sources of tions that put children in any danger, data are Demographic and Health Sur- even inside the family (i.e. neglected, veys that produce standardized indica- exposed to work exploitation or sexual tors allowing comparative studies on abuse). Third, institutional care should these issues (Heaton et al. 2005; Tabu- be analyzed, in terms of supply and tin and Schoumaker 2004; Wilcox et al. demand (in particular, how supply can 2009). Orphanhood is becoming of generate demand). Motivation for and interest in the context of the AIDS epi- causes of child placement need more demic (Audemard, Vignikin and Des- attention and work should be done to grées du Loû 2006; Monasch and identify conditions of return to a familial Boerma 2004). Other new fields of environment. research have appeared and need more Therefore, the development of in-depth studies. The role of family research in social and legal sciences on structure or the child’s status on child these issues seems necessary for policy

6. International Program on the Elimination of of the International Labor Organization is particularly active in producing general statistics on working children. http://aps.journals.ac.za 87 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011) breakthroughs in child protection. It is familles Dakaroise face à la crise. important to improve data collection in Dakar: IFAN, ORSTOM, Ceped. order to produce a better description Ariès, P. 1975. L'enfant et la famille sous and understanding of the recent l'ancien régime. Paris: Points His- changes. Strategies for children’s care toire. that have been developed by today’s Aubel, J., Touré, I. and Diagne, M. in various coexisting family models press. "Senegalese grandmothers (extended family, , single- promote improved maternal and parent family, etc.) and instances of dis- child nutrition practices: the ruption leading children into situations guardians of tradition are not averse of great vulnerability and exploitation to change". Social Science & should be explored immediately (Ayuku Medicine. et al. 2003) Audemard, C., Vignikin, K. and Desgrées Du Loû, A. 2006. Orphans References and vulnerable children due to Aids in Achebe, C. 1967. Le monde s'effondre. Africa. Paris: Ceped. [Publisher?] Paris. Ayuku, D., Odero, W., Kaplan, C., De Adetunji, J. 2000. "Trends in under-5 Bruyn, R. and De Vries, M. 2003. mortality rates and the HIV/AIDS Social network analysis for health and epidemic". Bulletin of the World social interventions among Kenyan Organization 78, (10): 1200-1206. scavenging street children. pp. 109- Adjamagbo, A., Delaunay, V. and 118. Mondain, N. 2009. "Maternité Baiden, F., Hodgson, A., Adjuik, M., prénuptiale en milieu rural Séné- Adongo, P., Ayaga, B. and Binka, F. galais. Quelles consé-quences pour 2006. "Trend and causes of neonatal les enfants ?" pp. 232-235. In mortality in the Kassena-Nankana Mémoires et démographie : Regards district of northern Ghana, 1995- croisés au Sud et au Nord Edited by 2002". Tropical Medicine And Inter- R. Marcoux and J. Dion. Presses de national Health 11, (4): 532-539. l’Université Laval. Ball, H. and Hill, C. 1996. "Reevaluating Agossou, T., ed. 2003. Regard d'Afrique "Twin Infanticide"". Current Anthro- sur la maltraitance. Paris: Karthala. pology 37, (5): 856-863. Ahmad, O.B., Lopez, A.D. and Inoue, Barou, J. 2001. "La famille à distance. M. 2000. "The decline of child Nouvelles stratégies familiales chez mortality: a reappraisal". Bulletin of les immigrés d'Afrique Sahélienne". the World Organization 78, (10): Hommes & Migration 1232: 16-25. 1175-1191. Bastian, M.L. 2001. ""The Demon Allotey, P. and Reidpath, D. 2001. Superstition": Abominable Twins and "Establishing the causes of childhood Mission Culture in Onitsha History". mortality in Ghana: the 'spirit child'". Ethnology 40, (1): 13-27. Social Science & Medicine 52, (7): Bearinger, L.H., Sieving, R.E., Ferguson, 1007-1012. J. and Sharma, V. 2007. "Adolescent Antoine, P., Bocquier, P., Fall, A., Guisse, health 2 - Global perspectives on the Y. and Nanitelamio, J. 1995. Les sexual and of 88 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

adolescents: patterns, prevention, Aidelf. AIDELF/INED. and potential". Lancet 369, (9568): Castle, S.E. 1995. "Child fostering and 1220-1231. children's nutritional outcomes in Bennett, T. 1993. "Human rights and rural Mali: the role of female status the African cultural tradition". in directing child transfers". Social Transformation 22: 30-40. Science & Medicine 40, (5): 679-693. Black, M. 1996. Children first: The story Delaunay, V., Adjamagbo, A. and Lalou, of UNICEF, Past and Present. Oxford: R. 2006. "Questionner la transition Oxford University Press. de la fécondité en milieu rural Bledsoe, C. 1990. "The politics of africain : les apports d’une démarche children: fosterage and the social longitudinale et institutionnelle". management of fertility among the Cahiers Québécois de Démographie Mende of Sierra Leone". pp. 81-100. 35, (1): 27-50. In Births and power: social change and Delaunay, V. and Enel, C. 2009. "Les the politics of reproduction, Edited by migrations saisonnières féminines :le W. Handwerker. San Francisco, cas des jeunes bonnes à Dakar". pp. Westview Press. 389-401. In Du genre et de l’Afrique. Bledsoe, C. and Cohen, B., eds. 1993. Ouvrage en hommage à Thérèse Social dynamics of adolescent fertility Locoh, Edited by J. Vallin. Paris, in sub-Saharan Africa. Washington: INED. National Academy Press. Delaunay, V. and Guillaume, A. 2007. Bonnet, D. 1997. ""Autorisés à mourir" "Sexualité et mode de contrôle de la ou la notion de "Négligence sociale" : fécondité chez les jeunes en Afrique le cas de l'enfant malnutri en Afrique sub-Saharienne". pp. 215-267. In de l'Ouest". Cahier de Marjuvia 4: 43- Santé de la reproduction et fécondité 49. dans les pays du Sud. Nouveaux Bonvalet, C. and Lelièvre, E. 1995. "Du contextes et nouveaux concept de ménage à celui de comportements, Edited by A. l'entrourage : une redéfinition de Adjamagbo, P. Msellati and P. Vimard. l'espace familial". Sociologie et Louvain-la-Neuve, Academia- Sociétés 2: 177-190. Bruylant. Brown, A., Jejeebhoy, S., Shahi, I. and Delaunay, V., Guyavarch, E., Arduin, P., Tount, K. 2001. Sexual relations Laurent, R., Marra, A., Duthé, G., among young people in developing Kante, M. and Pison, G. 2006. "Les countries: evidence from WHO case systèmes de suivi démographique : studies. Genève: WHO: l'intérêt d'une approche 50+annexes p. comparative". Paper presented for: Calvès, A. 2006. "Nouveau contexte Chaire Quételet "Les systèmes familial à la naissance, d'information en démographie et en reconnaissance paternelle et prise sciences sociales", Louvain-la Neuve. en charge des jeunes enfants à Yaoundé". pp. 101-112. In Enfants Destremau, B. and Lautier, B. 2002. d'aujourd'hui. Diversité des contextes, "Femmes en domesticité. Les pluralité des parcours, Edited by domestiques du Sud, au Nord et au http://aps.journals.ac.za 89 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

Sud". Tiers-Monde 43, (170): 249- European History". Journal of family 264. history 17: 7-13. Diduk, S. 1993. "Twins, Ancestors and Gage, A.J. 1997. "Familial and Socio-Economic Change in Kedjom socioeconomic influences on Society". Man 28, (3): 551-571. children's well-being: An Diduk, S. 2001. "Twinship and Juvenile examination of preschool children in Power: The Ordinariness of the Kenya". Social Science & Medicine 45, Extraordinary". Ethnology 40, (1): (12): 1811. 29-43. Goody, E. 1982. Parenthood and social Erny, P. 1988. Les premiers pas dans la reproduction. Fostering and vie d'un enfant d'Afrique Noire. Paris: Occupational Roles in West Africa. L'Harmattan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Erulkar, A., Mekbib, T.-A., Simie, N. and Press. Gulema, T. 2006. "Migration and Guillaume, A. and Molmy, W. 2003. Vulnerability among Adolescents in L'avortement en Afrique : une revue de Slum Areas of Addis Ababa, la littérature des années 1990 à nos Ethiopia". Journal of Youth Studies 9, jours. Ceped. (3): 361-374. Guillin, J. 1996. De l'oubli à la mémoire : Etard, J., Le Hesran, J., Diallo, A., un autre regard sur l'abandon. Lyon: Diallo, J., Ndiaye, J. and Delaunay, V. Editions Xavier Lejeune. 2004. "Childhood mortality and Gyimah, S.O. 2009. "Polygynous marital probable causes of death using structure and child survivorship in verbal autopsy in Niakhar, Senegal, sub-Saharan Africa: Some empirical 1989-2000". International Journal of evidence from Ghana". Social Science Epidemiology 33: 1286-1292. & Medicine 68, (2): 334-342. Ezembé, F. 1997. "Circulation des Heaton, T.B., Forste, R., Hoffmann, J.P. enfants en Afrique : d'hier à and Flake, D. 2005. "Cross-national aujourd'hui". Journal des Psychologues variation in family influences on child 153: 48-53. health". Social Science & Medicine 60, Ezembé, F. 2003. "Don et abandon des (1): 97-108. enfants en Afrique". pp. 225-246. In Hurault, J. 1987. "Un ouvrage méconnu Le bébé face à l'abandon, le bébé face : Infécondité en Afrique Noire à l'adoption, Edited by M. Szejer. d'Anne Retel-Laurentin ". Cahiers Paris, Albin Michel. d'études africaines 27, (105-106): Faqué, P. 2004. Né sous X : Enquête sur 177-185. l'abandon Paris: Editions Carnot. Iacub, M. 2003. "Pour X. L'inconvénient Fernandes, G. 2008. "Twin children in d'être né de personne". Raisons Mananjary, Madagascar". Paper Politiques 12: 55-76. presented for: 34th Biennal Con- Indepth Network 2002. Population, gress of the International Asso- Health and Survival at INDEPTH ciation of Schools of Social Work SItes. Ottawa: IDCR. "Transcending Global-Local Divides", Ipec 2007. Les déterminants du travail et Durban. 20-24 july 2008. de la scolarisation des enfants: les Fuchs, R. 1992. "Child abandonment in enseignements des enquêtes 90 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

biographiques du Burkina Faso et du groupes. Les avancées d'une Mali. Genève: Bureau Internaitonal recherche en cours". Population 52, du Travail: 39 p. (4): 803-830. Jacquemin, M. 2002. "Travail domes- Leventhal, J. 2003. "The field of child tique et travail des enfants, le cas maltreatment enters its fifth d’Abidjan". Tiers-Monde 43, (170): decade". Child Abuse and Neglect 27, 307-326. (1): 1-4. Jonckers, D. 1997. "Les enfants Lloyd, C.B. and Blanc, A.K. 1996. confiés". pp. 193-208. In Ménages et "Children's Schooling in sub-Saharan familles en Afrique . Approche des Africa: The Role of Fathers, dynamiques contemporaines, Edited Mothers, and Others". Population by M. Pilon, T. Locoh, E. Vignikin and development review 22, (2): 265- and P. Vimard. Paris, Ceped. 298. Journet, N. 2004. "De l'abandon au don: Lolo, B. 1991. "La dyade de la relation l'adoption dans le monde". Sciences mère-enfant ou la prise en charge de Humaines Hors série 45 "L'enfant": l'enfant africain". Transitions 31. 64-67. Madhavan, S. 2004. "Fosterage patterns Lachman, P. 1996. "Child protection in in the age of AIDS: continuity and Africa - The road ahead". Child Abuse change". Social Science & Medicine & Neglect 20, (7): 543-547. 58, (7): 1443-1454. Lachman, P. 2004. "Understanding the Marie, A. 1997. "Les structures current position of research in Africa familiales à l'épreuve de as the foundation for child l'individualisation". pp. 279-300. In protection programs". Child Abuse & Ménages et familles en Afrique, Neglect 28, (8): 813-815. Edited by M. Pilon, T. Locoh, K. Lacoste-Dujardin, C. 1986. "Au Vignikin and P. Vimard. Paris, Ceped. Maghreb, l'enfance innomable". Marinopoulos, S. 1997. "Avant Autrement (Abandon et Adoption) 96: l'adoption : l'abandon". Journal des 85-90. Psychologues 153: 23-26. Lallemand, S. 1988. "Un bien qui circule Mattern, C. 2007. Etude de la pratique beaucoup". Autrement (Abandon et contumière d'infanticide et de rejet Adoption) 96: 128-134. des enfants sorciers au sein de l'ethnie Lallemand, S. 1993. La circulation des baribara du Nord Bénin. In enfants en société traditionnelle. Prêt, Département des Sciences Poli- don, échange. Paris: L'Harmattan. tiques et Sociales p. 112. Louvain-la- Lalor, K. 2004. "Child sexual abuse in Neuve: Université Catholique de Sub-Saharan Africa: a literature Louvain. review". Child Abuse & Neglect 28, Meekers, D. 1994. "Sexual initiation and (4): 439-460. premarital chilbearing in Sub- Lamari, M. and Schlürings, H. 2000. Saharan Africa". Population Studies Forces féminines et dynamiques 48, (1): 47-64. rurales en Tunisie. Paris: L'Harmattan. Menick, D.M. 2000. "Les contours Lelièvre, E., Bonvalet, C. and Bry, X. psychosociaux de l’infanticide en 1997. "Analyse biographique des Afrique noire: le cas du Sénégal". http://aps.journals.ac.za 91 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

Child Abuse & Neglect 24, (12): Oppong, C. 1997. "African family 1557-1565. systems and socio-economic crisis". Miakayizila, P., Ganga-Zandzou, P. and pp. 158-182. In Family, Population Mayanda, H. 2000. "L'abandon du and Development in Africa, Edited by nouveau-né à la naissance à A. Adepodju. London, England Zed Brazzaville". Médecine d'Afrique Noire Book. 47, (3): 145-148. Oppong, C. 1999. "Les systèmes Miller, C., Gruskin, S., Subramanian, S., familiaux et la crise économique". Rajaraman, D. and Heymann, S. pp. 221-254. In La famille africaine. 2005. "Orphan care in Botswana's Politique démographiques et working households: growing développement, Edited by A. responsabilities in the absence of Adepodju. Paris, Karthala. adequate support". American Journal Panter-Brick, C. 2000. "Nobody's of Public Health 96, (8): 1429-1435. children ? A reconsideration of child Mishra, V. and Bignami-Van Assche, S. abandonment". pp. 1-26. In 2008. Orphans and vulnerable Abandoned children, Edited by C. childrenin high HIV-prevalence Panter-Brick and M. Smith. countries in sub-saharan Africa. 15, Cambridge, Cambridge University Calverton, Maryland: Macro Press. International Inc.: 92 p. Panter-Brick, C. and Smith, M., eds. Monasch, R. and Boerma, J.T. 2004. 2000. Abandoned children. Orphanhood and childcare patterns in Cambridge University Press. sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of Pilon, M. and Vignikin, K. 2006. national surveys from 40 countries. Ménages et familles en Afrique pp. S55-S65. subsaharienne. Paris: Editions des Morel, M. 2003. "Les enfants aban- archives contemporaines/AUF. donnés dans la France ancienne Pilon, M. and Yaro, Y., eds. 2001. La (XVIe-XIXe siècle)". pp. 19-45. In Le demande d’éducation en Afrique : état bébé face à l'abandon, le bébé face à des connaissances et perspectives de l'adoption, Edited by M. Szejer. Paris, recherches. Dakar: UAPS. Albin Michel. Rabain, J. 1979. L'enfant du lignage. Du Mouvagha-Sow, M. 2006. "L'implication sevrage à la classe d'âge chez les des pères dans l'éducation des Wolof du Sénégal. Paris: Payot. enfants au Gabon ". Pp. 204-219. In Raum, O. 1967. Chaga Childhood. Proceedings of the Conference on Oxford: Oxford University Press. Enfants d’aujourd’hui. Diversité des Renne, E.P. and Bastian, M.L. 2001. contextes, pluralité des parcours, "Reviewing Twinship in Africa". Paris. AIDELF. Ethnology 40, (1): 1-11. Oderoi 2006. La violence contre les Rollet, C. 1990. La politique à l'égard de enfants dans la région de l'Océan la petite enfance sous la IIIe Indien. Rapport annuel de République. Paris: INED. l'Observatoire des Droits de l'Enfant Rutstein, S.O. 2000. "Factors associated dans le Région de l'Océan Indien. with trends in infant and child Maurice: ODEROI: 169 p. mortality in developing countries 92 http://aps.journals.ac.za African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

during the 1990s". Bulletin of the du Sahara des années 1950 aux World Organization 78, (10): 1256- années 2000 : synthèse des 1270. changements et bilan statistique ". Rwebangira, M. 1994. "What has the Population 59, (3-4): 521-621. law got to do with it ?" pp. 187-215. Unicef 1998. "UNICEF on deficient In Chelewa, Chelewa. The dilemna of birth registration in developing teenage girls, Edited by Z. Tumbo- countries". Population and Develop- Masobo and R. Liljeström. ment Review 24, (3): 659-664. Östersund, The Scandinavian Institut Unicef 2003. Building a World Fit for of African Studies. Children. New York: UNICEF: 24 p. Simondon, K.B., Delaunay, V., Diallo, A., Unicef 2007a. Progress for Children: A Elguerro, E. and Simondon, F. 2003. World Fit for Children Statistical "Lactational amenorrhea is asso- Review 6, New York: UNICEF: 68 p. ciated with child age at the time of Unicef 2007b. The State of the World’s introduction of complementary food Children 2008: Child Survival. New : A prospective cohort study in rural York: UNICEF: 154 p. Senegal, west Africa". American Unicef 2009. The State of the World’s Journal of Clinical Nutrition 78: 154- Children 2009: Maternal and New- 161. born Health New York: UNICEF: Singh, S. 1998. "Adolescent childbearing 158 p. in developing countries: a global United Nations 2008. Report of the review". Studies in Committee on the Rights of the Child. 29, (2): 117-136. General Assembly. Sixty third session Singleton, M. 2004. "Infanticide. Notes (Suppl. 41). Supplément no 41 (A/ de lectures anthropologique à usage 63/41), New York: United Nations éthique". Documents de travail du p. SPED, UCL Louvain-la-Neuve 20: 48. United Nations 2009. Guidelines for the Singleton, M. 2005. "Ancestral practices Alternative Care of Children. A/C.3/ and demography of precolonial 64/L.50: General Assembly - A/C.3/ Black Africa". Anthropos 100, (1): 53- 64/L.50: 24 p. 72. Van Gennep, A. 1904. Tabou et Smith, L., Ramakrishnan, U., Ndiaye, totétisme à Madagascar. Paris: Le- A., Haddad, L. and Martorell, R. roux. 2003. The importance of women's Vandermeersch, C. 2002. "Child status for child nutrition in Africa. Fostering under Six in Senegal in Research Report, 3, Washigton, DC: 1992-1993". Population 57, (4-5): IFPRI: 164 p. 659-685. Sow, M., Moreau, J., Mbaye, I., Ndiaye, Who 2007. Adolescent pregnancy - P. and Benais, J. 1989. "Neonaticides Unmet needs and undoned deeds. A au Sénégal: aspects sociologiques et review of the literature and programs.: médico-légaux". Acta Medicinae 99 p. Legalis et Socialis 39, (2): 277-283. Wilcox, W., Lippman, L., Whitney, C. Tabutin, D. and Schoumaker, B. 2004. and Cid, A. 2009. "Making the grade "La démographie de l'Afrique au sud : family structure and children's http://aps.journals.ac.za 93 African Population Studies Vol 25, 1 (April 2011)

education participation in Colombia, dans le centre tunisien: étude Egypt, , Kenya, Peru and médico-légale et sociale: a propos Uruguay". Paper presented for: de 42 cas". Jounral de médecine légale XXVIe Congrès International de la droit médical 43, (7-8): 579-582. Population, Marrakech, Maroc. Zimmer, Z. and Dayton, J. 2005. "Older Zemni, M., Ben Abdallah, E., Ben Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa Living Dhiab, M., Souguir, M. and with Children and Grandchildren". Chebaane, N. 2000. "L'infanticide Population Studies 59, (3): 295-312.

94 http://aps.journals.ac.za