Little action as minors suffer brutal sexual violations

 

Laws and policies that guard against prevailing sexual abuse against children, and bring perpetrators to book exist, but they continue to let the innocent and most vulnerable down.

This is the view held by some childcare organisations.

Director of Gantsi-based Window of Hope Centre, Johannes Kahuadi told The Midweek Sun in an interview that the numbers are shocking. In his line of work at the centre, they deal with pregnant girls aged 14 to 18.

Kahuadi’s non-governmental organisation works with children between six and 18 years, and promotes the rights and wellbeing of orphans and vulnerable children as well as young people and their families.

He says teenage pregnancy is as a result of lack of parental skills, high rate of child neglect and early engagement in sexual activities. He also believes that some of the children end up pregnant because of poverty, especially in marginalised communities.

"Parents of these children are not educated, so they do not encourage their children to take their education seriously and they do not attach importance to education," he said, adding that some children face immense pressure from their peers at school to engage in sex.

They have also observed that some children at that tender age, indulge in alcohol and drug abuse, hence are vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

According to Kahuadi, their psychosocial support life skills camps proved very effective in curbing teenage pregnancy. Unfortunately, the centre has discontinued the camps because of lack of funds.

He also believes that raising awareness on positive parenting among parents, guardians and caregivers could go a long way in preventing teenage pregnancy in addition to teaching girls to prevent from a young age, and encouraging them to delay sex.

His view is that organisations that deal with children need to be empowered and supported with finance and infrastructure. More psychosocial support should be employed in schools and more personnel training of social workers to engage children in schools and communities.

Kahuadi said while all children are vulnerable to sexual abuse, in his area they have observed that Basarwa children have been the most affected. "Most of the practices are cultural and very difficult to deal with especially teenage pregnancy”. He is concerned that while many defilement cases are reported, at the end they are culturally accepted. Kahuadi warns parents, guardians and caregivers to always be on the lookout for tell-tale signs of sexual abuse.

Sexually abused children often isolate themselves from others, and are mostly quiet. Some tend to display a change in behaviour and have lost interest in going to school, and can be aggressive.

While there are laws that protect children in Botswana, Kahuadi is worried that there is very little collaboration between critical stakeholders like parents, medical personnel, police, teachers, NGOs and social workers.

He said the Children's Act of 2009 need to be fully enforced and implemented. "Some are not even aware of the Children's Act. there are many unreported cases and even after reporting, there are delays on the process whereby the cases are dropped and its business as usual and children continue to suffer," he said. His view is that referrals need to be strengthened with all relevant stakeholders.

Mona-Lisa Danieli Mungure of Molao Matters on the other hand believes that children are not necessarily dropping out of school because of pregnancy, but are being forced out of school because they are being raped, defiled.

Some are even raped by the same person more than once and as a result they are forced into unwanted pregnancy. She said this is a horrific state of the nation that has contributed to the disgraceful position of number one in the world for rape.

Molao Matters facilitates action between stakeholders who directly deal with children, among them social workers and police. They educate the public on laws related to gender rights and children's rights, and also provide legal services.

Mungure said while all children are vulnerable the most vulnerable are usually from child-headed households, households struggling with poverty and where there is poor supervision.

Children belonging to certain cultural backgrounds are also more vulnerable especially where culture infringes on their rights.

"For example, where child marriages are practised through culture like within Basarwa, some refugee populations and Mazezuru communities. But children from different walks of like are being affected and all children are vulnerable because of the fact that they are children," she said.

Challenges met in dealing with child and teenage pregnancy include lack of coordination between stakeholders like police, social welfare officers and health care. Cultural practices and societal attitudes about women and girls especially around victim blaming, sexualising children who reach puberty early and also not understanding issues of consent.

She said the fact that a child under 18 years cannot consent to sex and 'reasonable belief' that they are not a minor are not an excuse in law.

In terms of the law, Mungure cited the 2021 Amendment to the Penal Code that increases the minimum sentence of rape to 20 years and special sentences for guardians and people in charge of minors at a minimum of 30 years.

"This law is passed but not in effect. It needs to be put in effect as soon as possible," she said, adding that people do not know that the sex-offenders’ registry is also in operation.