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In Phumulani, a village 100km west of Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, Sehlukene (not her real name) said, "I was 10 years old when my stepfather forced me to sleep with him. My mother had gone to attend a weeklong church conference and it was only the two of us who were home. He raped me at least five times and when I told Mom about it, she warned me not to tell anyone."
Five years on, the 15-year-old form-three school pupil is contemplating reporting her parents to the police - her father for rape and her mother for complicity - and breaking ranks with the "societal practices" that turn a blind eye to such abuses. Sehlukene said she had seen many children her age and younger being abused in the name of discipline.
"Some have been beaten up - raped like myself - and one girl in my neighbourhood had to be taken to an inyanga [traditional healer] for treatment when she bled continuously after being raped by her uncle. No one has ever condemned this, and it seems our society approves of it."
Unicef, the United Nations children fund, issued a statement last month condemning horrific sexual child abuse in Zimbabwe after a local report of a high school teacher raping a six-year-old girl and infecting her with HIV/AIDS.
"This should be a cause for national outrage, and every citizen must make it their duty to stamp out this evil afflicting Zimbabwe's children," said Dr Festo Kavishe, Unicef's country representative.
One local NGO reported in a year 4,146 cases of sexual abuse against children in its area of operations alone, Unicef said in its statement.
Although traditional leaders disapprove of rape, domestic violence against spouses is woven into longstanding beliefs that men should act "firmly", and this "disciplining" extends to children.
"From long ago, our forefathers used to discipline their wives. As a man, you are the leader of your homestead, and if your wife keeps on wanting to make herself equal to you, you have the right to trim her to size," the head of Phumulani village, Abednico Manyika, told IRIN.
"Children have to be disciplined too; if you don't do that then you are not playing your role as a father. Slapping a child is not abusing them. In a way, you are correcting them not to do the same mistake they would have done," he said.
One villager told IRIN on condition of anonymity that a culture of silence encouraged abuse. "Police have handled a few cases of rape and general child abuse here, but many cases have gone unreported because our leaders don't want them to come to light. They say it is not proper to report a fellow villager to the police for an offence, because that sort of antagonizes our society."
Another said, "I personally have tried to reason with my leader, [the village head] to take some of these issues, such as rape, seriously, as they are police cases but he has flatly refused to do so. He argues that we are a traditionally rich society that should do things the ancient way, but there is a feeling that this is wrong, because children and women who are naturally vulnerable members of any society are suffering needlessly."
Poverty and socioeconomic conditions also contribute to the culture of silence: in many cases where men are the breadwinners, reporting them to the police could lead to loss of income. About 80 percent of Zimbabweans live on less than $US2 a day.
Melissa Murape, an official with The Girl Child Network, a children's advocacy group, said although her organisation had not received child abuse reports from Phumulani, they were investigating numerous incidents of child abuse nationwide.
"A lot of children, especially girls, continue to be raped, and we call upon the police to show no lenience to those caught breaking the law. We also call upon the government to enforce laws that protect children and women against abuse, especially by men," she said.
Government ministries have joined Unicef and local NGOs in supporting a national campaign of "zero tolerance against child abuse", including workshops with police, journalists and teachers, to educate people about child abuse. Government has in the past spoken out against the abuse of children and women.
Nn/go/he
Five years on, the 15-year-old form-three school pupil is contemplating reporting her parents to the police - her father for rape and her mother for complicity - and breaking ranks with the "societal practices" that turn a blind eye to such abuses. Sehlukene said she had seen many children her age and younger being abused in the name of discipline.
"Some have been beaten up - raped like myself - and one girl in my neighbourhood had to be taken to an inyanga [traditional healer] for treatment when she bled continuously after being raped by her uncle. No one has ever condemned this, and it seems our society approves of it."
Unicef, the United Nations children fund, issued a statement last month condemning horrific sexual child abuse in Zimbabwe after a local report of a high school teacher raping a six-year-old girl and infecting her with HIV/AIDS.
"This should be a cause for national outrage, and every citizen must make it their duty to stamp out this evil afflicting Zimbabwe's children," said Dr Festo Kavishe, Unicef's country representative.
One local NGO reported in a year 4,146 cases of sexual abuse against children in its area of operations alone, Unicef said in its statement.
Although traditional leaders disapprove of rape, domestic violence against spouses is woven into longstanding beliefs that men should act "firmly", and this "disciplining" extends to children.
"From long ago, our forefathers used to discipline their wives. As a man, you are the leader of your homestead, and if your wife keeps on wanting to make herself equal to you, you have the right to trim her to size," the head of Phumulani village, Abednico Manyika, told IRIN.
"Children have to be disciplined too; if you don't do that then you are not playing your role as a father. Slapping a child is not abusing them. In a way, you are correcting them not to do the same mistake they would have done," he said.
One villager told IRIN on condition of anonymity that a culture of silence encouraged abuse. "Police have handled a few cases of rape and general child abuse here, but many cases have gone unreported because our leaders don't want them to come to light. They say it is not proper to report a fellow villager to the police for an offence, because that sort of antagonizes our society."
Another said, "I personally have tried to reason with my leader, [the village head] to take some of these issues, such as rape, seriously, as they are police cases but he has flatly refused to do so. He argues that we are a traditionally rich society that should do things the ancient way, but there is a feeling that this is wrong, because children and women who are naturally vulnerable members of any society are suffering needlessly."
Poverty and socioeconomic conditions also contribute to the culture of silence: in many cases where men are the breadwinners, reporting them to the police could lead to loss of income. About 80 percent of Zimbabweans live on less than $US2 a day.
Melissa Murape, an official with The Girl Child Network, a children's advocacy group, said although her organisation had not received child abuse reports from Phumulani, they were investigating numerous incidents of child abuse nationwide.
"A lot of children, especially girls, continue to be raped, and we call upon the police to show no lenience to those caught breaking the law. We also call upon the government to enforce laws that protect children and women against abuse, especially by men," she said.
Government ministries have joined Unicef and local NGOs in supporting a national campaign of "zero tolerance against child abuse", including workshops with police, journalists and teachers, to educate people about child abuse. Government has in the past spoken out against the abuse of children and women.
Nn/go/he
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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