COMBATING CHILD ABUSE
On Saturday, 4th July 2015, Young Givers Foundation, a non-profit organization in Malawi had a big walk under the theme “Breaking the Silence Around Child Abuse”. The event took place in Blantyre city from Blantyre Magistrate Court to the upper Stadium.
The main purpose of the big walk was to get all Malawians engaged in spreading awareness of all kinds of child abuse which are silently happening in Malawi. It also aimed at mobilizing leadership and commitment at all levels with a view to prevent and respond to violence, exploitation and abuse against children which include sexual exploitation, child labor and harmful traditional practices such as early marriage. This big walk was graced with the students from Lunzu primary and Rose Garden private primary schools led by their teachers and the Police.
Speaking in a separate interview, Martha Gonthi the founder and managing director of Young Givers Foundation said children are still abused despite that the message of combating this attitude is spreading throughout the world every day. She further said these children sometimes fail to reveal these acts to the right people since they are threatened to face the music if they do so.
“There are six kinds of child abuse which need to be addressed and these are physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect abuse, family abuse and organized sexual abuse. Children subjected to violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect are at a risk of death, poor physical and mental health, HIV/Aids infections, homelessness and poor parents in their future. They also miss out education opportunities, which has a negative impact on their future. These children fail to reveal to people following the threats from the abusers. For instance I was defiled when I was 8 years old and threatened not to tell anyone. Therefore as young givers foundation we want to break the silence as the theme itself expresses in order to let the children observe their rights,” she said.
In his remarks Traffic Sergeant Kampopa from Blantyre police station said children are abused in different ways. He described “touching a breast of a child or demanding her to remove her dress” as offences. Champopa said the tendency of child abuse is growing high predominantly in rural areas where children are sent to work in the farm before going to school which makes them not to concentrate in class and leads to poor performance. Furthermore Traffic Constable Dzinga urged the abused children not to remain silent but to report any kind of child abuse to their nearest police stations instantly.
The head teacher from Rose Garden Primary, Raymond Kamowa, attended the big walk and elaborated that nowadays the girl child is depressed both at home and school. Kamowa said girls are given much work to do than boys.
He added that sexual abuse is common in schools where teachers convince students to sleep with them in order to be favored in class. “It is our obligation to look after the children and protect their rights for them to achieve their goals. As Rose Garden, we are supporting the initiative established by Young Givers to curb any kind of child abuse and promote the rights of the children,” he said.
Commenting on the issue, Jean Harawa, a teacher from Lunzu primary said sometimes parents send off their children predominantly orphans to sell business during school time. She also gave an example of a standard 2 girl she met on the way who carried a 50Kg bag of maize to a maize meal. She met with the parents of a girl and learnt that the girl was an orphan.
Grace Kampingule aged 11 is in standard 7 at Rose Garden primary school. She is one of the children who was totally abused but remained silent. “I was not allowed to go to school after the death of my father. I stayed at home for a year. There was nobody to tell since all my relatives were supporting the point. But now I can assure you that this big walk has opened my eyes that we are not supposed to remain silent whenever we are abused,” she said.
Young Givers Foundation is one of the organizations in Malawi with the aim of improving the lives of young people in the country. The organization is currently working hand in hand with Lirangwe police and looking forward to work with Chileka and Blantyre police. Meanwhile, Young Givers Foundation is estimating to reach out to communities outside Blantyre with the message of combating child abuse.
by Chisomo jb Chikadya
