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Sifelani Tsiko in Umzingwane
NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisations (NGOs) have been urged to put more effort into empowering and protecting boys who are increasingly being sexually assaulted, abused and raped in Umzingwane district.

Juliet Mukoki, a programme officer of the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) and co-ordinator for the Spotlight Initiative said more emphasis must now be put to protect both girls and boys.

“Here in Mzingwane we are also receiving cases of sexual abuse of boys. Boys are suffering in silence because of the exaggerated sense that boys or men must have traits such as being strong, unemotional and aggressive which will, in turn, give them power over others,” she said.

“Girls and boys are all at risk. Your sex and gender has nothing to do with whether you can or will be sexually assaulted. A rape of any other sex or gender is rape.”

To address problems related to early child sexual abuses and child marriages in Umzingwane district a consortia comprising the Government, ZWLA, CONTACT, South Wetsern Region Gender Network (SWRGN) and YES Trust are spearheading programmes to raise awareness on the impact of GBV on young women, girls and boys.

The programmes running under the Spotlight Initiative supported through a partnership between the European Union (EU) and the United Nations are aimed at ending violence against women and girls and harmful practices.

Zimbabwe is among the 20 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean which are participating in the four-year programme which started in 2019 and ends in June 2021 for the first phase.

The country was supported by the EU to the tune US$30 million for the first phase to help Zimbabwe meet some of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3 and 5) on empowering women and girls to realise their full potential in a violence free, gender-responsive and inclusive environment.

“Recently we stepped in to support a young boy who was traumatised after being raped. We as gender champions under the Spotlight Initiative sought referral pathways for support for the boy,” said Vusumuzi Mpofu, a local pastor and gender champion.

“NGOs and the Government must also put greater emphasis on protecting boys from abuse. Most boys are being sodomised here in Mzingwane. They are suffering in silence and they need more platforms just like we have for girls to give them support and counselling services.”

He said more needs to be done to raise awareness and create men’s forums to help young boys and men to speak out about sexual abuse and gender-based violence.

“Cases of sodomy must be exposed. NGOs, the Government and the local community leadership must scale up awareness campaigns in schools, churches, villages and other community gatherings. We must speak out on abuses of girls and our young boys,” he said.

“Cases of sodomy have been taking place for years with most locals blocking their exposure. Community leaders say it’s a taboo and we should not speak about it. This must change and we should protect our boys.”
Mlobiseni Ndlovu, headman of Sipaba Village in Ward 5 of the district said failure to support young boys who were being sexually abused could have deadly consequences.

“If we don’t support them, we end up having murderers because of built up anger and stigma. Most end up suffering from mental health issues. So, we need to scale programmes in our villages to protect our young boys and our young girls.

“No one must be left out. Assumptions that real men don’t cry, they’re strong, tough and they can’t keep it to themselves no longer works. Support and counselling is the way to go,” he said.

In Umzingwane child marriages are rampant and key drivers include poverty, pressure from artisanal miners, traditions and other factors.

The raging Covid-19 pandemic has escalated the problems, with many young girls falling pregnant.

Scores of young boys are no longer going to school as they venture into gold panning to eke a living for their families.

“Recently, a young girl was rescued when she got trapped in a mine that had caved in,” said Mukoki. “Girl child hawking at these mines has exposed girls and boys to sexual abuse by artisanal miners. We need to do more to engage the gold miners and raise awareness on GBV issues.”