In 2006, a girl aged 13 was sexually abused by her teacher at a known school in Lusaka, Zambia. The minor and her guardian sued the teacher, along with the school and the Ministry of Education in Zambia.
On June 30th, 2008, the presiding Judge, Philip Musonda delivered a judgment in the High Court of Zambia in which the victim was awarded K45 million Kwacha (about $13 000) as compensation.
In his ruling Judge Musonda, said it was the responsibility of the government to care for all school going children through its agents (teachers and school authorities), when schools are in session.
The case was hailed both locally and internationally as one of the landmark judgment ruling by the judge who held the government liable for violating the child’s rights and was asked to pay for the damages.
The story generated a lot of interests from different international human rights organizations who followed with keen interest in a bid to document violence and discrimination against women. This was geared towards mobilizing international action to support efforts in the country to stop these abuses.
Equality Now, an organization that advocates for humans rights, saw this case as an appropriate advocacy tool for effecting the necessary change in Zambia, through funding from UN trust Fund, convened and strategized with various civil society organizations in Zambia to develop a program to address violence against girls by teachers.
Although the problem of sexual abuse of adolescent girls in Zambia has been growing at a very frightening rate, it is gratifying to note that there has also been a growing recognition of the need to safeguard the rights of adolescent girls and to ensure that interventions are centred on the concerns of these girls.
The abuse is a global public health concern. The magnitude of the problem in the African region is not known, and information from authoritative studies is scarce. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that globally, some 40 million children aged 0‐14 years suffer some form of abuse and neglect requiring health and social care.
In definition, Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally prepared and cannot give consent. “It is a cruel and tragic occurrence and a serious infringement of a child’s rights to health and protection,” Says Zambia’s Minister of Education Ms, Dora Siliya.
In her address to a recent journalist workshop, organized by Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA) in Lusaka, Siliya directed all teachers to stop conducting tuitions with pupils in their homes, saying the move had resulted in increased sexual abuse among girls.
“The Ministry of Education has recorded 16 cases of sexual abuse by some male teachers countrywide from January to August this year, resulting in unwanted pregnancies,” She added.
The Minister noted that some male teachers were taking advantage to offer tuition to students from homes while with motives of luring them in sexual activities. She directed all Provincial Education Officers (PEOs) and District Education Board Secretaries (DEBS) to ensure the directive was adhered to.
The move was received well around the country but the challenge came in how implementation would be done.
Secondary School Teachers Union of Zambia (SESTUZ) Deputy General Secretary Mr. Emmanuel Zulu however said that it would be challenging to enforce the directive as the Ministry of Education lacked necessary structures to uplift the education standards in the country.
“As much as the reasons of banning home tuitions may be valid because of the possible abuse of girls, the real problem is that it will be very difficult to effect it. My question is what modalities will the government put in place?,” he asked.
However, Zulu said though from a moral point of view, the ban was good, teachers were using the home tuitions to make an additional income from the meager salaries they received.
“From the moral point of view it is good, but teachers use tuitions to try to raise funds for themselves. Actually, home tuitions are some of the income generating activities for teachers. Imagine, how can a teacher who is getting K350, 000 as housing allowance manage to rent a house costing as high as K 750, 000 survive?” he said.
Zulu observed that the prevailing high levels of poverty have made home tuitions to be widespread.
“The only solution to this problem is that the government should improve teachers’ conditions of service,” said Zulu.
However, in response the Minister said poverty and economic hardships should not be a blame for young girls in schools to be abused by teachers because they needed help to acquire education.
During the media training, designed to increase the capacity of journalists to report on issues of sexual violence against girls, the Coordinator of “Tisunge Ana Athu Akazi Coalition (TAAAC) which is translated to “Let us Protect our Girl Child”, Ms Shupe Makashinyi acknowledge that the topic required constant and consistent media coverage .
“Sexual violence is a gross violation of children’s rights that lead to various problems ranging from physical to psychological,” she said adding that there was limited information and statistics on the extent of the problem in developing countries.
Makashinyi said that there was need for a deliberate agenda that seeks to prod the conscience of the public and raise awareness of the problem by highlighting the damaging effects and need for perpetrators to be given a stiffer sentence.
Currently the law of Zambia states that any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults a child sexually commits a felony and is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than fifteen years.
And during his presentation on the Guide to the Law on Sexual Violence, International Justice Mission (IJM) coordinator of Community and Church Relations, Zambia Chapter, Mr Chrispinus Chupa, said child abuse particularly sexual abuse violates the trust, safety and psychological development. He added that research shows the children are affected throughout their life.
He said there was lack of adequate legislation on children right’s while the existing ones had poor implementation. “Existing criminal and civil provisions do not offer protection against the phenomenon which usually occurs behind closed doors. Even after the abuse has occurred, a court will only hear the case if the victim complains.” He said.
During a recent workshop for TAAAC implementing partners, Equality Now Africa Office Programme Officer Ms. Caroline Muthoni regretted that current laws on sexual violence against women were limiting to helping survivors get justice.
She said the laws demanded incriminating proof and a limited time of 72 hours to report the incident and a medical report given failure to which may lead to the case being thrown out, adding that many survivors, especially in the rural areas were not able to access to these facilities in the given time.
“Many children have been defiled and months pass before the cases are reported. By the time it is reported, there is little or mo evidence to incriminate the perpetrator,” she said.
Muthoni called on the need to for lawyers to consult and come up with ways on the penal code could be amended in favour of the abused children.
Equality Now is the lead implementing agency in the Zambia project of TAAAC, who are working to address sexual violence against girls in Zambia.
Other partners include Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL), Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), Population Council, Campaign on Female Education (CAMFED), Zambia Association for Research and Development (ZARD), Forum for African Women Educationists in Zambia (FAWEZA), Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA), Plan Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ) and Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA).
Meanwhile ZAMWA is running radio programmes and public announcements to sensitize the public on the need to partner and fight sexual violence against girls.
The programmes which started in September are running on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation radio 2 and tackle variety of topics, some of which include Sexual violence and impacts on millennium development goals, The role of the civil society, sexual violence in schools and legal instruments, among others.
During the TAAAC meeting, ZAMWA programmes officer Ms. Sally Chiwama called on nongovernmental organizations to partner with the media in the fight against the vice.
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