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Latwell Nyangu
THE crackdown on perpetrators of child abuse and gender-based violence, like Madzibaba Ishmael, has been hailed as a huge step in the right direction.
Shamwari Yemwanasikana director, Ekenia Chifamba, whose organisation has been helping victims of abuse said:
“We want to thank the Government and relevant authorities for helping to bring perpetrators of abuse to book.
“We have the case of Madzibaba Ishmael and we are supporting the efforts to bring such perpetrators to justice.
“We are excited and it’s sad that some of the girls have children with Madzibaba.
“There are so many cases emanating from churches and we are pushing to expose all this through planned breakfast meetings with relevant ministries and stakeholders,” said Chifamba.
She said the organisation is celebrating 10 years of existence, a milestone which has seen them propelling different projects to help children get protected from abuse.
“We have our entrepreneurship pillars in which we are imparting skills to some teen mothers.
“We are also working with churches, men and boys.
“As we are celebrating 10 years of operating, we are looking back and reflecting on the cases we have attended to.
“We have more than 10 000 cases of abuse in which we have partnered with a lot of organisations who have supported the work we have done.”
She added:
“We have a special pillar which focuses on child protection.
“Within this pillar, we provide services to victims of abuse which include escorts to the police, hospital, and courts and providing social psycho support.
“We are currently in the process of completing our one-stop empowerment centre in Seke rural called Tariro Yedu for victims of abuse whom we believe if they leave the centre, they will leave as survivors,” she said.
Chifamba said they are hoping to open the centre’s doors next year in February.
“The one-stop centre also encompasses our four pillars as Shamwari Yemwanasikana, so it is an entrepreneurship unit as it has a health rights hub and it also has a research unit which is being funded by Nottingham University.
“The centre also provides peer-to-peer support for survivors of abuse, and we are guided by a national referral pathway guided by the standard operating procedures of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Services.
“The centre has been supported by a number of organisations including GIZ, OXFAM, the Chinese Embassy and currently has huge support from the UAE Embassy.”
The organisation is also working on another centre in Chihota aimed to help teen mothers, and another in Murehwa.
“We also have an arts centre so as to ensure we bring more voices.
“We have an initiative which looks into the element of raising awareness.
“We work with a multi-stakeholder approach, including Government, community leaders and ministries.”
Online Reporter