TGNP: Sexual corruption affects women

Dar es Salaam. Women at work places are experiencing sexual corruption, a vice which has caused majority of them to abandon their jobs.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the TGNP Mtandao executive director, Ms Lilian Liundi, stressed it would be difficult for Tanzania to achieve Millennium Development Goals (SDGs) and industrial economy if there are little efforts to fight gender-based violence, and especially sexual corruption at work places.

Ms Liundi was speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday in a 16-day event to mark Gender Based Violence against Women where she said that sexual violence in society affects development, undermines women dignity and also reduces the work morale in various areas.

“According to the Tanzania Judges Association (Tawja), one of the challenges facing the Tanzanian women is that are asked for sex to secure employments, which against the law,” she said.

Most victims of sexual corruption are mothers, relatives, children, girls and fellow workers, leading others to die early after contracting HIV/Aids.

Ms Lilian called on the participants to join the other women’s rights activists and gender equality groups to strongly oppose such actions because sexual corruption is the violation of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Act number 11 of 2007.

The Act clearly states that a woman who is asked for sex in order to be offered an employment should report to PCCB or other relevant offices to ensure that the culprit is arrested and arraigned.

Tanzania has adopted a number of agreements aimed at guaranteeing gender equality, women empowerment, and also protecting them from violence and other forms of violence.

They include the National vision,Women Anti-Violence, the Beijing Declaration and the Action Plan, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the SADC’s Gender Equality Agreement and the Supplementary Prohibition on Abolition of Violence and discrimination against women and children (CRC) and the Five-Year National Development Plan.

Despite the existence of a constitutional law on equality between women and men, says Ms Liundi, this equality has not yet been achieved in ensuring that women are always legally entitled to their rights.

Ms Liundi stressed the importance of improving the employment environment and relations between employers and employees to eradicate gender violence at workplaces.

There is also a need to maximize productivity in sustainable development, promote and protect women’s dignity by eliminating sexual harassment, and increase confidence in women, economic development promotion, and enhancement in the expansion of Tanzania’s manufacturing and eradicating sexual corruption, to give women decent job opportunities.