Strengthen protection strategies for adolescents against rape
AN increasing percentage of rape survivors who seek medical help at various facilities are children and adolescents, a situation that has made apparent the need for strengthening strategies to protect this age group which is also highly vulnerable to HIV/Aids in Zimbabwe.
Stakeholders have therefore called for the opening up of various social platforms and encourage families and society at large not to blame the victims and protect the perpetrators but to let the law take its course.
Rape is a gross form of sexual assault, unlawful sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against a person’s will or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception.
The Adult Rape Clinic (ARC) reports that more girls and women are violated than men in Zimbabwe.
“Rape, is a gendered crime and generally statistics reflect children (girls and boys) and women constitute over 95 percent of survivors who come through health facilities to receive medical services. And at ARC, 75 percent of rape survivors seeking medical services are children and adolescence,” said Ms Marcelin Mukwamba the Director of ARC.
The ARC said community involvement in dealing with the issue of sexual violence and the subsequent reporting is key in addressing the challenge.
“The community plays a pivotal role in the protection of children against sexual violence. The first thing is to remove the stigma associated with rape where the survivor is usually blamed for the sexual act. This disempowers the survivors from reporting. The community through various social institutions from the family, schools, churches and other platforms need to promote the open discussion of how each institution can promote safe spaces for children where they feel free to communicate potential and actual abuse,” she said.
Ms Sunga Mzeche, the country director for Hope for a Child in Christ (HOCIC) said the Covid-19 lockdowns heightened sexual exploitation of children especially girls saying schools had been acting as agents of social control in most communities.
“This (opening of schools) was giving less room for abusers to abuse children. Children spent more time at home and in the community being idle and it exposed them to some sexual predators. Children especially young girls are sexually abused and sexually exploited largely by the people they know and the people they live with. During lockdowns children spent more time with the perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse,” she said.
To add on to the burden of having many children and adolescents being raped in Zimbabwe, UNAIDS Country Director Sophia Mukasa Monico highlights that there is also an increased risk of HIV infection, especially for women and girls, refugees and the internally displaced.
“Adolescent girls or young women are three times more likely to get infected with HIV compared to boys and men the same age. In 2021, according to the UNAIDS Global AIDS report, new HIV infections among young women aged 15-24 were 76 percent more than in young men: 5 200 new infections among young women, compared to 1 600 among young men,” she said.
The ARC noted that patriarchy has also seen less and less men reporting their rape ordeals as they are socialised to be the stronger sex.
“Patriarchal societal norms have contributed to the gendered definition of rape as most of the rape survivors who report are women, and children. Men have been socialised to be masculine in nature and this perception discourages men from reporting sexual assault since society would label them as not being man enough. Although the trend is slowly changing, there still is a gap in reporting sexual assault by men, who prefer to preserve their status amongst other men in the community,” said Ms Mukwamba.
Ms Mzeche lamented the under-reporting of cases of rape and sexual violence coupled with non-disclosure at family and community levels.
“This is also supported by our baseline study results in Umguza, Bubi and Umzingwane. Many cases are going unreported. Some of the main perpetrators are probably caregivers and even breadwinners. The child is threatened not to report as they may even be thrown out of the home. In some cases when the child reports they may be silenced to safeguard the income source or not to embarrass the family. The children may fear being victimised and labelled liars or naughty and prefer to keep quiet,” she added.
Due to the nature of the long-term impacts of rape, survivors feel that the justice system needs to review the sentencing of sexual violence perpetrators as a deterrent measure from would be perpetrators.
The ARC highlighted that intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of violence against women and includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and controlling behaviours by an intimate partner.
“The perpetrator is usually someone very close, such as the spouse or girl/boyfriend. This relationship dynamic makes it difficult for survivors to report the violence. Risk factors of intimate partner violence include low selfesteem, low education or income, young age, heavy alcohol and drug use, lack of non-violent social problem-solving skills, and mental health instability,” said Ms Mukwamba.
She said the family unit is a sacred unit of the community hence all measures should be taken to preserve it. However, despite having statutes to protect women and men from all forms of violence, there are still cases of abusive relationships which at times result in the death of the victims.
“It is unfortunate that most victims are not empowered to identify the need to leave toxic relationships as they usually have hope that the perpetrator will eventually change their abusive behaviour. The victims therefore at times go out of their way to impress the perpetrator, who most often does not reciprocate but continues to be violent. Society has also modelled women to expect some form of abuse in intimate relationships as a sign of endurance, and this has also been attributed to the disempowerment of women from moving out from toxic relations,” she added.
The Adult Rape Clinic says sexual and gender-based violence is a pandemic that has long term impact on the lives of survivors. Rape has both immediate negative health impacts such as physical injuries, the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and unwanted pregnancy.
ARC offers holistic emergency medical services for rape survivors and urge survivors to come through within the first 72 hours of rape to reduce chances of contracting HIV, STIs, and unwanted pregnancies. ARC also manages the long term negative mental health impacts of rape through provision of counselling and psychotherapy services to ensure survivors are well rehabilitated as productive members of society. @NyembeziMu