Child sex in Zim 'rampant'
2006-01-23 21:22
Johannesburg - Sexual abuse of children is rampant in Zimbabwe, where the Aids pandemic has orphaned more than a million, says the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) on Monday.
According to reports from clinics, aid groups and the media, most of the victims were primary school children.
Unicef said one local group recorded 4 146 cases of sexual abuse against children in its area of operation last year alone.
The statement said most children were abused by trusted authority figures, including school staff and family members.
A teacher at one primary school in Harare was charged with abusing 14 girls for three days last year.
Violation of children's rights
According to reports, at another school in nearby Marondera, a teacher and three workers allegedly abused 52 boarding students - 14 of whom were infected with HIV - for several months.
Unicef's country representative, Festo Kavishe, said: "This is an utterly intolerable violation of children's rights. Community leaders need to be explicit in their condemnation of such abuse."
A devastating Aids epidemic at a time of economic crisis in the southern African country had made many children vulnerable to abuse.
James Elder of Unicef said at least one in five Zimbabwean children had lost one or both parents, the overwhelming majority because of Aids.
Unemployment, inflation
Many were cared for by already stretched extended families, grappling with acute food shortages, 80% unemployment and inflation of more than 500%.
Elder said: "With so many economic challenges, coupled with a very high number of orphaned children ... there is an incredible level of vulnerability here."
He said a child without money was more likely to hitch a ride from a stranger, for example.
The impact of abuse could last a lifetime. Children who were raped were at high risk of contracting HIV, the virus that caused Aids.
Zero tolerance of child abuse
Unicef noted mounting public concern about the problem and efforts to make the court system more child-friendly.
The UN agency was also working with the government and other groups to promote "zero tolerance" of child abuse. But, it said communities needed to do more to break the silence about abuses.
Unicef's head of child protection, Jose Bergua, said: "Community leaders, teachers, mums and dads - these people are the front line in the fight against child abuse.
"If children are going to have the confidence to speak out against these evils, authority figures need to make it patently clear that child abuse in their communities will not be stomached.
"Silence on this issue shelters the perpetrators and is a crime against children."
- AP