Child-focused agencies speak against abuse
BUSINESS REPORTER
Child-focused agencies have condemned the abuse of young girls calling for more effort to strengthen prevention of sexual abuse and timeous response to the same.
The quintet, under the banner Joining Forces Zimbabwe, described the sexual abuse of young girls as horrendous.
“This is a social ill that undermines the quest for equity and quality of life for young girls. The recent, shocking media reports on pre-teen girls from Tsholotsho and Bindura getting pregnant due to abuse shows that the violation of girls’ rights continues unabated. We applaud the reporting of such cases in order for justice to be served because reporting sexual abuse of girls is critical in bringing perpetrators to account,” the agencies said.
They said the abuse cases have shown that children themselves need to be more empowered to recognise abuse and have more safe spaces as well as more effective mechanisms for child friendly reporting.
The agencies said all relevant actors as mandated by the National Case Management System who include government departments at all levels, Non-Governmental Organisations, Community Based Organisations and community-level structures, such as churches and traditional leaders to invest more in awareness by communities (including children) on the need to report abuse early to break the cycle and receive help.
“In the case of sexual abuse survivors are able to access different essential services in line with the country’s laws. Such services include psychosocial support, termination of pregnancy and other medical services,” they said.
They also want all the actors to timeously and comprehensively respond to all cases of child sexual abuse. This will strengthen the confidence of communities in the protection system and encourage more reporting of such criminal acts, they said.
The agencies said the extent of harm children, in particular young girls are being subjected to calls for more severe penalties for sex offenders.
They also want focus to be put on men and boys to exercise positive masculinity that uphold and protect the right of to live free from all forms of violence.
Zimbabwe has made significant gains regarding laws to protect girls and women from sexual violence.
Section 81 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.20), Act 2013 proclaims that every child has the right to be protected against sexual exploitation with section 19 placing an obligation on the State to adopt reasonable measures to ensure that children are protected against all forms of abuse. Other pieces of legislation are the Children’s Act (Chapter 5:06); Marriages Act (Chapter 5:15); Guardianship of Minors Act (Chapter 5:08); Domestic Violence Act (Chapter 5:16) and the National Gender Policy.
In 2017, five child-focused agencies—that include Plan International, Save the Children International; and SOS Children’s Villages International, and World Vision International – joined forces globally to use the collective power to accelerate change to secure children their rights and end violence against them.
