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Attack on women's groups unjustified
Netsai Mushonga, Co-ordinator, Womens Coalition
July 27, 2005

http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?id=45514&pubdate=2005-07-27

EDITOR - This is in response to Tony Namate's letter in The Herald of July 25, 2005 and another titled "Disappointed" in The Herald of July 26, 2005.

The two put the responsibility of protecting girl children in schools on the shoulder of women in women's groups.

This is the real reason why cases of rape have continued to affect our children.

Rape is everyone's responsibility; let's get that very clear before we blame anyone.

We can all play a small role in preventing it as parents, fathers, mothers, pastors, directors, ministers, the courts, MPs, caregivers, as everyone of us who is not rapists themselves.

I say the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture is responsible for stemming child abuse at Macheke Primary School because children are in schools, which they effectively run through teachers and other staff.

Regulations in place do not allow non-governmental organisations and the public to just walk into a school to preach on any subject.

You need written permission from the Provincial Education Director in every province to walk into a school.

That can take time to acquire or it can also be denied.

We would have wanted to rush to Macheke as soon as this happened and be there on the ground.

The dilemma is that rapists are allowed free access to kids when we cannot walk in.

When the Macheke case was reported, we sent in Girl Child Network to work on the case but they were told that their services were not required.

We attended some court sessions to give moral and legal support to the victims and learned about the continued abuse at the school.

That was when we alerted the media, resulting in the lead story of The Herald of 21 July 2005.

We did hold a Press conference and later appeared on ZTV lunch news to comment on the goings on at Macheke.

On the 27th, we have arranged a Stakeholders Conference in Marondera to discuss child abuse and on the 29th we will march in Macheke. We also require written police permission for the march and this can be denied.

The real story, according to our own assessments, is that Macheke Primary School children were being turned into sexual slaves by a group of organised paedophiles.

We have the expertise to investigate these cases and empower the children to immediately stop child abuse but we were denied permission to do this.

Kids continue to be abused because all the perpetrators have not been arrested - some accomplices who were mentioned by name in court are still walking free.

The children have also become sexually active themselves at tender ages of 8 to 14 years. Sex acts like a drug for children who do not know the responsibility that goes with it.

I urge you all to be angry not with women's groups but with all stakeholders in the issue.

Be angry with rapists for raping your children. Four men at Macheke Primary School allegedly raped a grade four girl continuously.

Be angry with the police for not arresting all the perpetrators as ten schoolgirls were raped after the cases had gone to court. Be angry with the accomplices for receiving bribes so the schoolgirls can be freely abused at Macheke.

Be angry at the courts for not providing child friendly court facilities and giving rapists lenient and small sentences. If you abuse women and girls or even kill them you get small sentences.

Most importantly, be angry with yourself for not taking any action to fight rape.

As one of the many women's groups, we would want you to give us ideas and join us on how to fight rapists - it's our responsibility. We play our part very well.

Our belief is that if this has been happening in Macheke, it's symptomatic of what is happening in another maybe twenty schools in Zimbabwe. So are your children safe wherever they are?

What can you do to make sure that they are?

Women's organisations can empower your kids and educate them with a view to protecting them.

Rape should never happen in the first place.

Anti-gender violence.

Visit the Women's Coalition fact sheet

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