Violence against children rises, LHRC report shows

What you need to know:

The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) disclosed in its Tanzania’s Human Rights 2017 Report that incidents of violence against the minors rose from 10,551 cases reported in 2016 to 13,457 in 2017.

Dar es Salaam. Incidents of violence against children have increased by 27.5 per cent in just one year, a new report shows.

The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) disclosed in its Tanzania’s Human Rights 2017 Report that incidents of violence against the minors rose from 10,551 cases reported in 2016 to 13,457 in 2017.

They continued to be the main victims of several forms of violence, which includes sexual violence in 2017,” according to the report, which was launched on Wednesday.

A survey, conducted by the human right watchdog last year revealed that 85 per cent of the incidents of violence against children were sexual violence especially rape and sodomy, with majority of the victims being primary school pupils

“One of the victims was a two-year old child. We documented three incidents of children raped by their own biological fathers, seven of the victims were aged just six years,” said researcher Fundikila Wazambi.

According to the report, the girls continue to be vulnerable to child marriages, something that denies them their basic rights, including education.

The report says that the children who experience sexual violence suffer from psychological trauma for the rest of their lives with some taking their own lives.

“For instance in June 2017, one child was reportedly raped and thereafter died in Katavi region and a similar incident occurred in Mwanza,” the reports reads.

The government and other organisations have been fighting against unacceptable traditional practices, which include early marriages and female genital mutilation.

Meanwhile, on violence against women in 2017, police data shows that a total of 2,059 cases of rape were reported by March, last year.

By last December, there were 8,039 such cases, which is an increase from 7, 575 cases reported in 2016.