Violence against children ‘rising in TZ’
What you need to know:
According to the LHRC, report findings come from a survey that was conducted in Tanzania Mainland.
Violence against children ‘rising in TZ’
Dar es Salaam. Incidents of violence against children in the country are on the rise, the 2016 report on the state of human rights in the country by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) shows.
According to the LHRC, report findings come from a survey that was conducted in Tanzania Mainland.
It shows that 2,571 such incidents, which include defilement, were reported between January and July, 2016 compared to 1,765 incidents, which were reported in a similar period a year before.
Most cases of child abuse were reported in Dar es Salaam (435), while 177 incidents were reported in Mbeya Region and 79 were reported in Dodoma Region. The other regions in a descending order include Mara (78), Iringa (76), Mwanza (74), Tabora (73) and Singida (71).
According to the report, launched by Judge Eusabia Munuo, most of the incidents are domestic violence.
The report reveals that a slow pace of investigation and prosecution of perpetrators and parenting gap are among the challenges, which hinder the fight against child violence.
“For example, the report indicates, there is a huge parenting gap in Iringa. Many children have failed to report to their parents, when they encounter incidents of sexual abuse,” reads part of the report.
It states that parents, guardians and relatives of the victims have reportedly been colluding with perpetrators, persuading the victim to give false testimony in court, while some other parents deciding to resolve the matter with the perpetrators at home.
Social workers in Mbeya and Moshi say the intention to conceal “family shame” is another challenge as parents, whose children are involved in defilement incidents refuse to report such cases because the perpetrator are relatives, hence deciding to conceal the shame.
Meanwhile, the report prepared by LHRC researchers, Mr Paul Mikongoti and Fundikila Wazambi, shows incidents of violence against women are also on the increase with Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police statistics indicating that rape increased from 972 in 2015 to 1,030 in 2016.
Presenting the report findings, Mr Mikongoti said 40 per cent experienced the incident at 15 years, 12 per cent during the last 12 months, 8 per cent during pregnancy and that Western and Lake regions are leading in such cases.
