Youth Development Foundation

 

Levels of child abuse in the Eastern Province are very high and the abuse that children undergo are in so many ways, some of the abuses that are common in Chipata are as follows:

 

• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Child labour
• Social abuse or neglect

 

The causes of physical abuse

 

• Death of Parents – When youths parents die, the people that are there to take care of the orphans sometimes do not give proper care to the children. Children are often mistreated and even beaten for no proper reason.
• Cultural beliefs
• Child delinquency
• Misunderstandings between parents and children

 

The causes of sexual abuse

 

• Myths – There are beliefs that if a man sleeps with a virgin he can get cured of HIV/AIDS, or that children can not be infected with HIV.
• Culture and traditions – Traditional herbs and concoctions are given to young boys as they are initiated in tribal ceremonies. Some people also believe that sleeping with children will bring them prosperity or spiritual purity.
• Early marriages – When girls come of age, the are married off by their parents for monetary gain. Young wives are often beaten by their husbands.

 

The causes of child labour

 

• Poverty – Children are forced to carry heavy things on their head and walk long distances selling food just for someone who it looking after them to sustain their families and yet they are not even taken school.
• Death of parents – Children are often mistreated by the people who are left to take care of them when their parents die and are given heavy workloads in the homes where they are kept.

 

The causes of social abuse and neglect

 

• Poverty
• Broken homes
• Status
• Death of parents
• Disability

 

Awareness

 

• Ignorance – People are not aware about their rights, people do not even know that when they do something that can endanger the life of a child, they are abusing that child.
• The law is there which states that children should not be abused and the law also aims at protecting the children from abuse, even though cases of abuse are not being reported because of fear of being embarrassed and children also fear to report such matters in fear of being chased away from their homes.

 

Legal procedure

 

• The procedure to apprehend the culprits is very ambiguous.
• The legal framework has to be improved.
• The clinical and police procedures should be amended to facilitate quick prosecution to arrest perpetrators.
• Children should be heard when they report such matters and the police should make sure that they deal with the culprit, meaning that there should not be any corruption.

 

Recommendations

 

• Zambia should abide by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Children’s rights should be included in the school curriculum in order for the children to know their rights at a young age.
• Youth organisations that work on human rights and child abuse should ensure that people are educated on the importance of following or respecting the rights of a child.

 

YDF is currently planning its programme to address child abuse in 2007, possible focus areas are Universal Birth Rights, Legal Resource Centres and research into child abuse in the Eastern Province.