News / National
'5 000 children raped yearly' - Report
19 May 2014 at 11:43hrs | Views
MUTARE - Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development minister Oppah Muchinguri has revealed extraordinary figures showing the extent of the rape of children below the age of 16.
The statistics show that the number of victims is nearly 5 000 a year, with very few of the attackers convicted let alone arrested.
Senior police officers believe actual numbers of rapes may be far higher because many children or their parents do not report the crimes.
It is the first time Muchinguri has released such statistics, and was speaking during National Families Day commemorations in Mutare last week.
The statistics are staggering, Muchinguri said as she called on government to send a clear message to would-be offenders that they cannot commit this horrible crime and get away with it.
She said the single most important action Zimbabwe can do to prevent rape is to put all rapists in prison, and called for a minimum sentence of 30 years.
"In just two-and-half years, takareperwa vana vanokwana 10 000 (we had 10 000 children raped)," Muchinguri said.
"Vazhinji vacho isusu vanamai tinotuma vana kunotenga zvinhu kumashops kamusikana kane five years, kwozouyazve tinoti endai kuma extra lessons nemurume. Tiri kuchengeta mutown chibage chakakura, ndomunobhinywa vana imomo (Mostly, it's us mothers who send children as young as five to shops to buy stuff, we also allow young girls to go for extra lessons with men and we also grow maize fields in towns and this is where most of the rapes occur.)"
Almost every day, local newspapers report on cases of children who have been sexually abused, often by their own relatives and by men who mistakenly believe they will be cured of Aids if they sleep with virgins. Others are misled by traditiona
The statistics show that the number of victims is nearly 5 000 a year, with very few of the attackers convicted let alone arrested.
Senior police officers believe actual numbers of rapes may be far higher because many children or their parents do not report the crimes.
It is the first time Muchinguri has released such statistics, and was speaking during National Families Day commemorations in Mutare last week.
She said the single most important action Zimbabwe can do to prevent rape is to put all rapists in prison, and called for a minimum sentence of 30 years.
"In just two-and-half years, takareperwa vana vanokwana 10 000 (we had 10 000 children raped)," Muchinguri said.
"Vazhinji vacho isusu vanamai tinotuma vana kunotenga zvinhu kumashops kamusikana kane five years, kwozouyazve tinoti endai kuma extra lessons nemurume. Tiri kuchengeta mutown chibage chakakura, ndomunobhinywa vana imomo (Mostly, it's us mothers who send children as young as five to shops to buy stuff, we also allow young girls to go for extra lessons with men and we also grow maize fields in towns and this is where most of the rapes occur.)"
Almost every day, local newspapers report on cases of children who have been sexually abused, often by their own relatives and by men who mistakenly believe they will be cured of Aids if they sleep with virgins. Others are misled by traditiona
Source - Daily News
