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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
WHEN someone is sexually-abused or raped, often their relatives and families hold kangaroo courts where they decide how to conceal the crime, a specialist into the investigations of gender-based violence (GBV) cases has said.

In most instances, the victims are sexually-abused by those they trust most.

Fathers are raping children, uncles their nieces while trusted neighbours also violate the trust bestowed upon them by their victims and families of their victims.

Bulawayo Provincial Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) co-ordinator, Inspector Jonnah Mwiriri, revealed this in an interview with Chronicle as he unpacked the role of the police specialised unit.

VFU was established in 1995 as a pilot project to handle GBV cases at Mzilikazi and Mbare police stations in Bulawayo and Harare respectively.

This specialised police unit has since spread across the country and every police station has VFU members.

“The reason for having the VFU section is that it was noted as an organisation that when dealing with GBV issues — domestic violence and sexual offences these are very sensitive cases, which require privacy and confidentiality,” he said.

“It was also noted that there is a need for further training to handle GBV cases by the police. So, it was a specialised section, which specialises in handling GBV cases.

“At each and every police station there is four or more police officers both female and males who have been further trained on how to handle these GBV cases.”

He said when a report is made the role of the VFU police officers is to put the victim first.

Insp Mwiriri said domestic and sexual violence victims do not need to narrate their ordeal at the charge office but can just request to see a VFU officer upon arrival and all the officers without further questioning them why they have visited the station.

He said at that moment the victim or the one coming to report is whisked away to where they can openly discuss the GBV case in a friendlier environment.

“These cases are very sensitive so they need to be handled in a confidential and private place. As VFU we deal with sexual offences and these include rape, indecent assault cases, aggravated indecent assault, and also cases of having sexual intercourse with a minor. We also handle domestic violence cases,” said Insp Mwiriri.

He said police have noted with concern that when close relatives are perpetrators of rape, families try to conceal the crime.

Insp Mwiriri said the need to protect perpetrators leaves the victim vulnerable and traumatised.

“Whenever a relative is involved, the parents or guardians would say the child is lying. But at the same time they will say let us hold a kangaroo court as family,” he said.

“By so doing it affects the survivor because once someone has been raped there are issues that need to be attended to. Within 72 hours, the victim should be treated to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections as well as preventing unwanted pregnancies.

“Those can only be prevented if cases are reported within 72 hours. So, we encourage parents and guardians to report those cases within 72 hours,” said Insp Mwiriri.

He encouraged members of the public to report the criminal cases even beyond the 72-hour threshold so that justice may take its course.

Insp Mwiriri said the public should also know that it is a criminal offence to conceal a crime.

This comes as Bulawayo has recorded a spike in rape cases at the beginning of the year following a suspected cross border transporter/malayitsha and suspected serial rapist Prosper Bhule, who allegedly raped 21 women.

Police say the issue of trust was pronounced in the case as he had information of his targeted victims and had previously met some of them to deliver groceries.

Insp Mwiriri said between January and end of May 140 rape cases were recorded in Bulawayo with 82 of them being of minors and the youngest being a four-year-old while the eldest was 18-year-old.

Between January and May last year, 145 rape cases were recorded and in 83 of them, the victims were minors.

“Our message is that it is better to take a child to a nursery as opposed to leaving them with untrustworthy male relatives. Also, children need to be taught not to accepts gifts from strangers,” said Insp Mwiriri.

He said police also recorded 425 domestic violence cases between January and May this year compared to 394 that were received in 2021.

Of concern, Insp Mwiriri said, domestic violence victims still protect perpetrators and some of them even try to withdraw cases upon reporting.

He said the protection of perpetrators is influenced by the financial dependence on the domestic violence perpetrators.

“But protecting the perpetrator has resulted in the death of some of the victims. What we are saying as VFU is that victims should report. It is not always the case that when a perpetrator is arrested, that they will be jailed.

“But being cautioned by the law can also lead to change of behaviour among perpetrators. We also have seen some people who try and withdraw cases but as police, once a case has been reported we have no power to withdraw it. We will forward it to the courts,” he said.

Insp Mwiriri said it was worthwhile to also observe that some male victims of GBV domestic violence were also coming forward to report cases.

He dispelled the public held view that police officers ridicule men who report GBV cases, saying that behaviour is in the past.

“Our officers have been trained that GBV knows no gender. Yes, in the past, men claimed they were being laughed at when they reported GBV cases. But now our police officers have been taught and they know how to handle all the victims regardless of their sex.

“We are now having more men reporting GBV cases and I believe this is also a result of the campaigns that we do as VFU, putting the victim first and dealing with them in a friendly environment,” said Insp Mwiriri. — @nqotshili