adminMarvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
GWANDA Provincial Hospital Victim Friendly Clinic (VFC) workers have expressed concern at the delays in reporting cases of sexual abuse which has resulted in victims failing to benefit from the Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) treatment.
PEP is special treatment given to survivors of sexual abuse within 72 hours of the sexual assault, so as to protect them from contracting HIV in the event that the perpetrator would have been HIV positive.
Speaking at the Matabeleland South Gender Based Violence Stakeholders meeting last Friday, the VFC nurse Mr Nqobizitha Ncube said delays in reporting rape cases by survivors was an issue of concern as it exposed them to the risk of contracting HIV.
“The challenge we are facing is that of late reporting of rape cases by survivors.
“We rarely see fresh cases and that is a problem because if the 72 hours lapses without the survivor seeking medical attention, the risk of contracting the virus is high.
“Therefore, we encourage survivors of sexual abuse to report within 72 hours so that we help them not to contract the virus,” he said.
Mr Ncube said stakeholders should help educate people to report rape cases early.
“We have had cases of 12-year-old girls coming to deliver at the hospital and we feel this would be a result of making reports late,” he said.
Research has revealed that women and girls were most vulnerable to sexual abuse due to economic dependency on their male counterparts.
The provincial development officer in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Mrs Merjury Sikhundla said women especially those in the rural areas needed to be educated on the importance of reporting cases of sexual abuse early.
“People in the rural areas are not aware of importance of reporting early and we need to make sure that information reaches to them through working together as stakeholders,” she said.
According to statistics from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Matabeleland South provincial Victim Friendly Unit, 78 percent of complainants in sexual abuse cases were women and girls.
Mr Prosper Mupa of the National Aids Council said more women and girls were at risk of being infected with HIV as some rape cases went unreported.
“There is higher HIV prevalence in women than men.
“More women are positive and more are at risk of getting infected because there is under-reporting of sexual abuse cases,” he said.
Matabeleland South Province has the highest HIV/Aids prevalence rate in the country.
Online Reporter