FORUM CALLS FOR HEAVY PENALTIES FOR RAPISTS

February 16, 2004 – (The Herald - Harare) Enkundleni Men's Forum has called for stiff penalties for child sex offenders, saying present sentences were too lenient to deter the practice.

The organisation's secretary in Bulawayo, Mr Lazarus Moyo told a meeting convened to discuss child abuse at Childline offices over the weekend that the forum was worried that child abuse was continuing unabated.He called on the Government to ensure that stiffer penalties are imposed on offenders.

"We feel that imposing stiffer penalties on offenders would act as a deterrent on would-be offenders. At the moment the sentences have been too lenient," he said.

Mr Moyo said traditional healers have a big role to play in cases of child abuse especially in light of prevalence of the HIV/Aids scourge.

"Traditional healers continue to mislead men through advising them to have sexual intercourse with young children if they are to be cured of the disease. Cases of child abuse have been on the increase because of this," he said.

It also emerged at the meeting that three quarters of abusers of children were men.

Representatives of organisations that attended the meeting called on Padare/Enkundleni to carry out activities that would educate men on the need to respect women and the girl child.

They felt that society also contributed in that it taught boys to dominate over females and view them as sexual abuse objects.

Padare/Enkundleni, they said, should form social clubs where they would sit down with boys and discuss sexual abuse.
Such clubs already existed in Harare and the organisation is considering setting them up in Bulawayo as well.

"We have already identified one school we want to start with. In Harare up to 13 such clubs are up and running in high schools as we speak," said Mr Moyo.

The meeting brought together representatives from organisations that deal with child abuse, women's groups as well as the Police's Victim Friendly Unit.

Padare/Enkundleni Men's Forum on gender is a non-governmental organisation formed in 1996 that brings together men to discuss cultural and social issues related to gender and equality.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200402161001.html