Omm—nit› ™ants Œ—stice for raped ‰irŽ ȋͻȌ

PIGG’S PEAK – Community members of Mhlangatane are crying out for justice following an alleged rape of a 9-year-old.

According to sources close to the matter, the minor 1tsikelelo, was allegedly raped by a neighbour Sipho last year.

Sources informed this publication that the matter was reported to members of the 5oyal (swatini Police Service (5(PS), but the suspected perpetrator has still not been arrested.

A community member said he had enTuired from the mother of 1tsikelelo on the developments to ascertain reasons for the suspect not to be arrested.

The community member indicated that they interviewed the minor with her mother Cynthia and identified signs that strongly suggested that the minor had been sexually violated.

³:e asked the child what happened and she con firmed that she had been raped by the neighbour. :e took her to the doctor for check ups and the doctor also confirmed that she had been sexually violated,´ said the community member. The mother of the minor confirmed to this publication that her daughter was allegedly raped and that the matter was reported to the police. ³The police are aware of the matter. , have been making follow ups and the police have informed me that , should bring along a witness,´ she said. Cynthia said the witness whom the police are referring to is a woman whose daughter had also been allegedly raped.+owever, it was established that the witness, was involved in a kombi accident and was seriously inMured. ³The matter is now being delayed by the unavailability of the witness, as she was involved in an accident. The police want the mother of the minor to bring with her the witness,´ said the community member.

Meanwhile, findings of a 1ational Survey on 9iolence Against Children in Swa]iland ((swatini) conducted on May 1 to -une 1 , 200 indicate that violence against female children is highly prevalent in (swatini. Approximately one in three females experienced some form of sexual violence as a child nearly one in four females experienced physical violence as a child and approximately three in 10 females experienced emotional abuse as a child.

%oyfriends and husbands were found to be the most freTuent perpetrators of sexual violence male relatives (other than the victims’ father) were the most freTuent perpetrators of physical violence and female relatives were the most freTuent perpetrators of emotional abuse. ,ncidents of sexual violence most freTuently occurred in the home, either the home of the respondent or the home of a friend, relative or neighbour.

Abandonment

,t was found that over half of all the incidents of child sexual violence were not reported to anyone, and less than one in seven incidents resulted in a fe male seeking help from available services. Females indicated the primary reason for not reporting sexual violence was that they were not aware what they had experienced was abuse. Many females also reported a fear of abandonment if they told anyone about the violence they had experienced. These numbers sug gest a lack of understanding of what sexual violence is and how and where to report such incidents. ,n regard to physical violence, in only one out of five cases did females seek help from available services, despite the fact that nearly one in four resulted in inMury that was serious enough to consult a doctor.

Main recommendations were that the results of this descriptive analysis had significant implications for focusing immediate and future prevention and response programmes. Chief Police ,nformation and Communnications Officer Superintendent Phindile 9ilakati said police were waiting for a report from social workers.