SPECIAL REPORT : Leaders come under fire for failing to crush gangs of rapists

Pangani. Aisha was born, raised and educated in a village in Pangani District, Tanga Region. She did not proceed to Form One.

But the village life was difficult.

So she opted to migrate to a city, hoping to earn a substantial amount of money.

After living for years in the city, then she was informed about her younger sister’s wedding back in the village. She thought it was wise to attend it. Upon arrival in the village, she reconnected with her past, meeting family and friends.

In her short stay, she met so many people in the village including her former boyfriend.

The lover reminded her of their past and asked if they could resume the relation,but Aisha declined.

That angered the ex who hired a gang of men to waylay and rape her.

But Aisha overpowered the gang and ran away.

This is a scene in a movie prepared by a non-governmental organisation called Uzikwasa to create public awareness on dangers of gang rape.

Uzikwasa made the film after realising that gang rapes were a serious problem in Pangani.

When the Ministry of Health drew up a plan to install DNA machines in district hospitals, starting with 11 hospitals in areas where rape incidents are rampant, Pangani was not one of the districts.

Recent events, however, show gang-rapists, known locally as mtungo, mande or mshikaki, are on the prowl in Pangani.

Indeed the crime has been common in the district although it is rarely reported for fear of shaming one’s family or fear of further ‘punishment’ from rapists.

In the film, Aisha is portrayed as a young, courageous, ambitious, business-minded urbanite.

What happened to Aisha had disastrous consequences for her.

But what confused her was the reaction in the village after reporting the incident.

Everyone else in the village would rather turn a blind eye but Aisha fought a tough battle.

Stories of gang rape are abound in Pangani.

People recount of abused women being forced to run away from their villages to avoid stigmatisation.

Gang rape involves at least two or more violators. Gang rape is sometimes referred to as ‘group rape’, ‘party rape’, or ‘multiple perpetrator rape’, according to Wikipedia. The gang members typically dehumanise their target victim(s) before and during the incident.

One study, according to Wikipedia, showed that offenders and victims in gang rape incidents were younger with a higher possibility of being unemployed. Almost all the people who were interviewed in Pangani agree with this argument. That was corroborated by a 44-year-old woman, who narrowly escaped being raped in Boza, Pangani.

She no longer go to her farm alone, fearing that she might end up in the hands of rapists.

She is concerned that authorities do not act.

She reported the matter to the village government but no action was taken.

She says in June this year she was approached by a young man in her farm.

The man wanted to know if she was alone. She lied that she was accompanied by a male colleague. So the man left hurriedly. “Rapists usually send one person to seduce a woman. When the woman accepts other rapists appear to take part in the crime.”

She says victims do not report such incidents because authorities do not act.

Uzikwasa monitoring and evaluation officer Joseph Peniel says gang rape is prevalent in Pangani villages and that is why there are such names as ‘mtungo’, ‘mshikaki’ or ‘mande’.

Mr Peniel says that the gang rape is among top ten problems listed in village action plans.

However, in terms of listing priorities for action it was the last on the list.

This shows that despite acknowleging that rape is a serious problem, villagers are reluctant to take action against it.

“It is bad that such a dangerous matter is given the lowest priority for action,” he says adding that in victims are blamed for accepting offers from culprits while refusing to accept the givers’ requests.

The victims have also been accused of making themselves expensive to guys.

Some have been blamed for exposing themselves to risks by visiting dangerous places alone or drinking alcohol excessively.

Kimanga villager Kibibi Abdallah is critical of society for treating the crime lightly and blaming victims.

“One woman was raped in this village but people remained silent because the matter was settled by relatives.”

She said women are even afraid of leaving their daughters alone at homes, thinking they may be raped.

Some young men in the village are notorious in raping girls and boasting that nobody can prosecute them.

The major concern for girls, women and activists is inaction by village government leaders and the law enforcement organs.

A religious leader in Kimang’a Tuliani Village criticises society for failing to stop such criminal acts.

Ms Maria Peter of Kimang’a Village says females fear of being raped by members of gangs which boast openly that they can do it and no one would dare report them anywhere.

Rape victims do not report because despite being humiliated society looks down upon them.

Rape is a severely under-reported crime with surveys all over the world, according to Wikipedia. Reasons for not reporting rape differ across countries. They may include fear of retaliation, uncertainty about whether a crime was committed or if the offender intended to harm another person, not wanting others to know about the rape, not wanting the offender to get into trouble, fear of prosecution and doubt in local law enforcement.

The Pangani District officer in charge of the Police Gender and Children Desk, Inspector Tumwagile Nsule, reaffirms that there is a huge problem.

Many people tend to settle matters at the family levels.

“They discuss the matter at home and when they disagree they come to police. By then the rapist would have escaped. Even when they report the issues getting witnesses in such cases is difficult.”

Why does mtungo happen? There are different explanations. Some sadists do so thinking they are punishing girls for refusing advances of boys.

Some attribute it to alcoholism and drug abuse.

A 21-year-old man at Kimang’a Village boasts that he was involved in gang rape to “punish and humiliate girls”.

“Sometimes a girl is approached by a boy she knows who lures her to a ‘ghetto’ where his friends wait to gang rape her,” he says.

A 2013 Lancet report on rape and gang rape in Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka found that the crime was committed for various motives, such as sexual entitlement, seeking of entertainment and a means to inflict punishment on the victim.

Associated factors in the crime included alcohol misuse, poverty, personal history of childhood victimisation, need to prove heterosexual performance, dominance over women and participation in gangs and related activities.

Most cases were not reported to law enforcement and just 23 per cent of single or multiple perpetrator rapes that were reported by the victims ended in prison sentence.

Forced sexual initiation

A growing number of studies, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, indicate that the first sexual experience of girls is sometimes unwanted and forced. It is also true in Pangani. Forced sexual rites have been reported in many studies of young women and men.

Where studies have included men and women in the samples, the prevalence of reported rape or sexual coercion has been higher among the women than the men.

Uzikwasa director Vera Pieroth agrees that cases of forced sexual initiation are rampant in Pangani. She calls for action against such norms that are generally accepted in the society but they are violent.

Inspector Nsule commends Uzikwasa for creating awareness on the enormity of ‘mande’ and the need to fight it through training, drama and the Aisha film. Police have been involved in many of Uzikwasa interventions. “There is a need for increased efforts and vigilance, apart from the good cooperation between community leaders, police, the Judiciary and health personnel.”

The situation is slowly changing.

Insp Nsule says now people were reporting such incidents after a series of sensitisation after Uzikwasa produced the Aisha film.

Figures compiled by Uzikwasa show that the number of reported cases of gender-based violence increased threefold this year from those of last year.

This shows an increase in confidence in police and the Judiciary.

Out of those cases, 30 per cent are in court, but there is no evidence for over 50 per cent of them.

According to Insp Nsule, the culprits in five cases have been sentenced to jail terms ranging from 10 to 30 years for rape and gender violence. There is therefore a need for concerted action against the crime.

Uzikwasa is showing the way with production of its film, Aisha, and training groups.