adminIN our Tuesday’s front page, we ran a sad story about a spike in rape cases countrywide.
So dire is the situation that a collective effort is now needed to tame and end this.
As it stands, it’s now time for action and not talk shows.
A lot of noise is usually made during this time of the year when the world celebrates 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence (GBV).
A number of resolutions, pledges and declarations are usually made during this time of the year to tackle many challenges facing women and young girls.
To be precise, women’s rights defenders are usually active during this period.
However, most of them tend to return to their shells after the event.
Chief among issues haunting women and young girls, which is now under spotlight, is rape and sexual harassment.
It’s sad to note that the same men who should provide protection to young girls and women are now violating their rights.
The shocking rape statistics recently compiled by the police are worrisome.
This fight calls for various stakeholders to step up and bring the culprits to book.
These monsters appear to be on prowl as they prey on innocent women and defenceless young girls.
The report revealed that 22 women are abused every day with a single woman abused every 75 minutes.
A total of 646 women are sexually abused by men every month.
These figures are scary as they show that we still have a long way to go to tame this monster.
According to Senate president, Mabel Chinomona, in a dialogue session with other stakeholders on Monday, these cases went up during the Covid-19-induced lockdowns.
She called for unity and cooperation to put an end to all this, which has stolen the dignity of women and young girls.
Our women and girls need protection to make the world a better place to live.
She also lamented the pathetic way in which victims of rape and gender-based violence are asked to bring the perpetrators to the police station when they report an offence.
This alone shows the laxity, among some police officers, in the fight against rape cases.
Perpetrators have even taken it further by raping and impregnating kids as young as nine-years old.
Child rape has also become a cause for concern as the innocent souls are being robbed of their future and dignity.
Surely, this should never be allowed to continue happening in this era when Zimbabweans have acquired more knowledge about these issues.
It is high time stiffer penalties are passed against these offenders to send a strong message to would-be offenders.
Cases of sexual assault and child rape should be reported to save future generations.
Failure to report such cases is tantamount to destroying our future generations.
As a progressive nation, we need to put our heads together and ensure that our women and young girls are safe from sex predators preying on the vulnerable.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter