Attacks on women on the rise in the Isles, study says

Dar es Salaam. Rape, early pregnancy and early marriage have risen in Zanzibar at an alarming rate, a new survey has revealed.

According to the report released in Dar es Salaam yesterday, gender-based violence remains rampant in the country.

But the report by the Tanzania Media Women’s Association (Tamwa) says significant strides have been made in stamping out attacks on women in the past year.

Some regions where GBV was rampant have made remarkable progress since the 2012-2013 survey, said Tamwa board member Gladness Munuo.

She was speaking during the launching of the report at Tamwa headquarters in Dar es Salaam. On Tanzania Mainland, though, rape cases have risen in Dodoma and Babati districts.

The survey was preceded by investigative journalism training across the country with the support of the United Nations Population Fund, after which 30 journalists formed Journalists Against Gender-Based Violence (JAG) network.

On Tanzania Mainland, the research was carried out in Kahama (Shinyanga), Tarime (Mara), Sengerema (Mwanza), Newala (Mtwara), Mbulu (Manyara), Singida rural (Singida), Bariadi (Simiyu), Busega (Simiyu), Nkasi (Rukwa) and Dodoma (Dodoma).

Other chapters include Babati (Manyara), Chunya (Mbeya) and Bunda (Mara). In Zanzibar, the research was carried out in Mjini Magharibi, Kusini Pemba, Kaskazini Pemba, Unguja Kusini and Kaskazini Unguja.

The research focused on rape, female genital mutilation, beatings, abandonment of women and children, killing of elders, child marriage and pregnancy. Journalists from various media houses took part in the survey.

The journalists represented The Citizen, The Guardian, Mwananchi, Daily News, Zanzibar Leo, Nipashe, Majira and ITV.

Despite differing from one district to another, according to Ms Munuo, the findings revealed that there were districts where FGM was a major problem while in others abandonment of women was massive.

 “Based on data that was collected and given that the main objective of the research is to wage war on GBV,” she added, “this report concentrates more on areas where the main issues that were being researched have been found to still be problematic.”

 In Zanzibar, the findings established that 996 cases of GBV were recorded in the districts that were surveyed. They include rape (242), underage pregnancy (228) child marriage (42), abandonment of women and children (96) and beatings (388).

But the good news is that regions such as Mara and Singida registered a drop in GBV. In the last survey, 20 per cent of women in Singida Region reported being raped but no rape was recorded in the recent survey.