The Chronicle
Andile Tshuma, Chronicle Reporter
JUST as Zimbabweans were still trying to come to terms with the news of a nine-year-old Tsholotsho girl who recently gave birth, more shocking news rocked the nation as another girl in Bindura is said to be pregnant, with two boys arrested for raping her.
We are still reeling from the shock of how sick one can be to rape an eight-year-old child, and not even have the decency to confess when the child gets pregnant, even after delivering a baby. Another bout of equally heartbreaking development shows that we need to have some sobering conversations as Zimbabweans.
What is happening and how best can we protect our kids?
In the more organic communities some decades back, a child was everyone’s child in the community, especially in the villages. A child did not only belong to his or her parents but was a child even to the neighbours, as well as the passerby. A child was safe in the presence of the elderly.
What has happened to our communities? How do we even fix it?
While it is very painful and heartbreaking, it is also embarrassing that we have such sick people in our communities.
It is high time we all acted, individually and collectively, to protect the rights of our children and to seek justice. We cannot sit back and fold our hands. If this culture of paedophilia grows, you will one day get shocked when you are greeted by such a similar situation at your doorstep. It is therefore better to act now.
This week, this publication carried another equally sad story of a 17-year-old girl who sadly died after giving birth to twins.
She died before disclosing the identity of the man responsible for her pregnancy and very much possibly her relationship may likely have been abusive, hence her failure to disclose the responsible person throughout her nine months of pregnancy and shortly after giving birth.
May her family find comfort and enough resources to raise the two orphans left behind.
Do people need a reminder of the convention on the rights of the child and the role of adults in ensuring that these rights are respected and protected?
All children have all these rights, no matter who they are, where they live, what language they speak, what their religion is, what they think, what they look like, if they are a boy or girl, if they have a disability, if they are rich or poor, and no matter who their parents or families are or what their parents or families believe or do. No child should be treated unfairly for any reason.
When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children. All adults should do what is best for children. Governments should make sure children are protected and looked after by their parents, or by other people when this is needed. Governments should make sure that people and places responsible for looking after children are doing a good job.
Governments must protect children from violence, abuse and neglect by anyone who looks after them.
The governments should protect children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, including by people forcing children to have sex for money, or making sexual pictures or films of them.
The cases of the Tsholotsho and Bindura girls is very unfortunate and points to the need for more efforts to protect the girl child in our communities.
The cases have left many people in disbelief, shock and traumatised by the abuse of such young children.
What makes the whole incident sad, particularly for the Tsholotsho girl, which was the first of the two cases to be brought forward to the public domain and to be so extensively covered by the press, is the fact that the perpetrator is yet to be identified, although the father was picked up by police and is assisting with investigations.
Hopefully, DNA evidence will help solve this heart-breaking case.
As for the other case, where the two teenage boys have been picked, it points to a bigger problem in society, those adolescents are barely adults themselves, so suppose they get convicted, where would they have learnt this unbecoming behaviour and how can they unlearn it?
Men’s organisations should take the lead in engaging men and boys on issues of child abuse, this is a very bad way to count down to the 16 days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence. Men’s Conference, Parade/ Enkundleni Men’s Forum you have some work cut out for you, nanko umsebenzi omkhulu, hero basa.
Let children be children and stop the abuse.
Article Source: The Chronicle