We, the undersigned, certify that we
have read and hereby recommend for acceptance by the Mzumbe University, a
dissertation/thesis entitled ‘violance
against girls in secondary schools and impacts on girls education in Tanzania’
: The Case of Mzumbe University, in
fulfillment of the requirements for award of the degree of Bachelor of
Education in Commerce and Accountancy.
.Signature
___________________________
Major Supervisor
Signature
___________________________
Internal Examiner
I Mdendemi Dominicus Lucas, declared that
this project is my own original work and it has not been presented and will not
be presented to any other university for similar or any other degree award.
Signature ___________________________
Date________________________________
I sincery thank
my God for giving me this enough courage of doing this research. Also I am
grateful to my parents and the whole family for their support.
I convey my
sincerely appreciation to my supervisor Mr.Jacob Salasu for his nice
supervision, cooperation and motivation in developing a sense of creativity,
encouragement and motivation in my way to success.
I
extend my gratitude to my colleague, friends and family like Fr.Augustine
Mdendemi, Mr.Bedda Mdendemi for Financial and idealy assistance and advice
throughout my studies.
And also would like to give thanks to my
fellow students E.Kaniki, N.Ndewaliyo, Ngatunga Bernard to mention but few for
their contributions, as well as my family for their idealy,encouragemental,and
financial support. Lastly, I would like to thank all those who helped in this
study directly and indirectly.
This report is
dedicated to my parents Mr.Lucas Mdendemi and may God make him rest in peace
and Mrs. L Mdendemi and my best siters and brothers; Bedda Mdendemi, Augustine
mdendemi, Deodatus Mdendemi, Deusdedith Mdendemi, Benither Mdendemi,Triphone
Mdendemi, Upendo Mdendemi and Getrude Mdendemi.
The
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that “every child has the right to education.” However, rights of the
girl child are expossed to violence, which mainly prevents them from accessing
education or puts a forced and premature end to their participation in formal
education. Currently, most governments and donors have not paid much attention
to issues of violence against girls, though strategies are developed such as
the Country Plans to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
There
is still inadequate attention to specific policies to address retention of
female teachers and girl child in schools. Such policies include promoting a
gender enabling environment and specific school/institutional policies to
promote gender equality and address violence against girls in and around
educational institutions.
Although
Action Aid has been actively working for the past few years to advocate for
policies that ensure the right to education for all children, including poor
and marginalized girls, boys and women. This report is an indicative study and
is not a national level research it is based in a small area (Only Mbeya City
Council), But the study reflects the whole community of different societies in
Tanzania.
From
this study one who can be able to read will come across the suggested causes,
effects, policies, regulations, strategies, recommendations and conclusions
based on the violence against girls in secondary schools in Tanzania. May I
welcome you all to read this work and gain what i wanted you all to come across
. And from this you will be stimulated to search more and more by yourself and
discover more issues concerning this study.
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter gives the background to the research problem,
statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, and
significance of the study, limitation and delimitation of the study as well as
definitions of key terms.
Article
19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) defines
violence as "all forms of physical or mental violence, injury and abuse,
neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual
abuse". A more extended definition
offered
in the World Report on Violence and Health (WHO, 2002) reads: “the intentional
use
of
physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person,
or against a
group
or community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in
injury, death,
psychological
harm, mal-development or deprivation” (P.5). Both definitions indicate that
violent acts include physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect.
Gender-based
violence occurs in every segment of a society regardless of class, ethnicity,
or country. Several studies indicate that violence is the result of the complex
interplay of individual, relationship, social, cultural and environmental
factors (Panos 2003; Belay Hagos
2005;
UN 2005; WHO, 2002).
For
instance, traditions that approve of male superiority tolerate or even justify
violence. In addition, the fact that sanctions imposed by the society against
perpetrators are not tough may also contribute to the problem. Other factors
such as poverty and the low status that is accorded to women in a society
contribute to gender-based violence (GBV).
1.2 Statement
of the problem
Violence against girls is a serious obstacle to
the attainment of internationally agreed education goals including the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (UN 2000). It is a major barrier to
education for millions of girls across the globe. The prevalence of violence
against girls affects both their rights to education and their rights in
education, and is the focus of a new Action Aid International advocacy
initiative.
The
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including Goal 2 (universal primary
education) and Goal 3 (gender equality), make no explicit mention of violence
against girls as a critical structural barrier to education (UN 2000). The
issue has also been neglected by major education initiatives such as the Global
Campaign for Education, of which Action Aid is a member.
Violence
or the fear of violence is an important reason for girls not attending school.
Besides being in itself an infringement of girls’ rights, violence is also
denying girls their right to education. Violence
against women and girls takes many forms including rape, sexual harassment,
intimidation, teasing and threats. It affects all girls and, regardless of age,
race, class, caste or location. Poverty, war and long journeys to school put
girls at additional risk.
The general objective of the study is to examine and to investigate
the nature of violence and abuse against girls’ education in Tanzania
and its associated factors.
The
main objective of this study is to collect information that will help partners
to understand the nature and extent of violence against girls in education. It
is also anticipated that the findings generated from this study will assist in
addressing the problem of violence against girls and education under the
following specific objectives and thereby address the gender gaps in education.
a.
To determine the prevalence of the problem of violence against girls in
educational institutions and who are affected (by ages, class, geographic
location, identity etc.)
b. To understand the
forms that this violence takes: physical, psychological, sexual, etc as well as
the perpetrators of such violence.
c. To identify the spaces
where the violence takes place: within the schools, or on the way to and/or
from schools and where the victims report such violence including the action
taken against perpetrators,
d. To analyze and
understand the contextual factors underlying the violence; social, cultural,
religion, conflict, etc.
e. To map out strategies
being undertaken by various institutions to address the problem, their
strengths and weaknesses and make recommendations on how best to address
violence against girls in the education sector.
1. Is
there any violence agaist girls in this school
2. Is it
suffice to say that violence against girls led to impacts on education
attainment among girls
3. Do
you think girls are affected by violence in schools that also lead to poor
academic performance
4. To
what extend violence against girls need policies and strategies to handle the
situation in schools
5. Can
you explain to me the causes of violence on girls’ education
6. Who
are involved on violence against girls in this school?
7. What
are types of violance on girls education?
The study is expected to have
the following significance;
i.
Be able to protect school
girls from violence and increase their educational participation.
ii.
To raise
awareness that gender-based violence in schools is a human rights concern: that
girls are entitled to empowerment through education in a safe environment.
iii.
To
recognize the need for a governmental child protection
policy that addresses girl’s
violence in the school environment and provides adequate
resources to promote gender-based program within
schools.
iv.
Raise awareness that there is
an urgent need for research to provide empirical data on girl’s violence in
Tanzania, especially with reference to gender violence in schools.
v.
To raise
awareness that girl’s protection is a shared responsibility:
government representatives in the education sector, teachers and community at large
should work together in a joint commitment to undertake early interventions to
end violence against girls, focusing on teachers as the key instruments for a
change.
Thefirst problem is the choice of research
design, because the case study design cannot give general findings. For example
the study will be conducted in Mbeya City Council as the researcher`s choice,
therefore, its findings might not all be relevant and applicable,usefull and
adopted to other districts. For example, lack of education to girls might not
be a challenge in Njombe and other urban centers.
The Other limitations are such as lack of
enough sources of data like books, previous done researches and other documents
which are very important in collecting required data.
The lack of expected students from A-level wich
caused the decrease number of sample population for data collection.Also lack
of funds caused failure in getting data in this work, time limit which was very
limited due to teaching activities and at the same time gethering datta for
this work.
The
focus of this study will be based on the violence against girls in secondary schools and
the impacts on girls’ education in Tanzania. The study will cover only at
Itebwa Secondary School.In Mbeya City Council, However from this school I
expected tocome out with general idea and knowledge in may study at large.
The
report is organized into eight chapters. Chapter one provides an introduction
to the study. This is followed by a discussion of the methodology in Chapter
Two. Chapter Three represents a brief review of relevant literature. The
results of the study are presented in four consecutive chapters. Chapter Four
presents data and findings on the types and prevalence of violence and abuse in
schools. The focus of Chapter Five is on the causes of violence. The effect of
violence and abuse in schools is dealt with in Chapter Six. This is then
followed by a discussion of relevant policy issues in Chapter Seven. The last
chapter outlines conclusions drawn from the study and recommendations for
dealing with the issue of violence in schools.
a)
Violence;
Refers to the illegal use of
unjustified force, or the intimidating effect created by the threat of this or
violence is an act to harm an individual.
Generally
Violence is the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual,
against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either
results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death,
psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.
b)
Girl’s
violence;
Mean, any act of gender-based
violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women and girls, including threats of such
acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public
or private life.
C)
Education;
Is the process of imparting
or transmitting and acquiring of knowledge through teaching and learning
especially at a schools or institutions.
d)
Girls’
Education;
Is the education offered to
girls. It includes areas of gender equality and access to education, and its
connection to the alleviation of poverty. Also it involves issues such as
single-sex education religious education, in that the division of education
along gender lines and religious teachings on education.
a)
Impact;
Strong
effect: The powerful or dramatic effect that
something or somebody has. Or having an immediate and strong effect on
something or somebody.
The term
“violence against girls” means any act of gender-based violence that results
in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or
suffering to girls, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary
deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.
Accordingly,
violence against school girls encompasses but is not limited to the following:
(a)Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family,
including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household,
dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other
traditional practices harmful to girls, non-spousal violence and violence
related to exploitation;
(b)
Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general
community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at
work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in girls and
forced prostitution;
(c)
Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the
State, wherever it occurs” (United Nations General Assembly 1994).
In many parts of the world,
especially in less developed countries, there is a big problem on violence
against children especially girls and also denies of human rights. Girls as
they grow up are far more likely to suffer from abuse and violence than boys.
Gender-based violence is common and is generally caused by the power
relationships between men and women and the relative powerlessness of women in
patriarchal societies.
This is a huge
problem in the education sector, as such a state of affairs undermines the
educational development of girls, denying them their basic human right to
education and increasing the gender gap in formal educational development.
Research has indicated that
various reasons contribute to gender-based violence in primary and secondary
schools, especially acts of sexual violence. These unlawful acts have been part
of the behavior and attitudes of employees in school environments. They have
existed for some time but things are now coming to light owing to awareness
being raised about these issues, although research indicates that more work
needs to be done, as there are few intervention strategies in place to curb the
situations. As Mgala el at say: “It is thought that sexual exploitation of
young girls is common within educational institutions in much of Africa, but
data is scarce and interventions to address the issue still very few.” (Mgala
et al: 1998).
Amnesty
International recommends that the definition of violence against women/Girls
(VAW/VAG) is be based on the definitions developed by the United Nations(UN)
and the Council of Europe.Violence against women is understood as any act of
gender-based violence, which results in, or is likely to result in, physical,
sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such
acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in
public or private life. Such a definition includes violence taking place in the
family or domestic unit or in the general community; perpetrated by state
officials and non-state actors. It should further include acts of gender-based
violence perpetrated on minors i.e.girls or teenagers.
Secondary school girls thinking on the way get out
of violence
Types
of Violence
I.
Sexual
Violence;
Sexual
violence represents one of the different types of gender-based violence
committed against school girls. It is the act of forcing school girls to engage
sexually as motivated activity without her consent and is often accompanied by
other types of violence including physical and psychological ones. Also this
violence including sexual violence, seduction, sexual harassment and
rape/attempted rape.
II.
Psychological
Violence;
The corporal punishments, beating up (physical
attack) and snatching away girls’ personal belongings. The study reveals that
school girls are subjected to a high level of physical abuse and violence
within the school, on the way to and from school as well as in their homes.
Interestingly,
such ill-treatment of girls happens for no obvious reason. In many cases, it is
difficult to completely distinguish between the different types of physical
violence and abuse. Although snatching is very destructive to the school girls’
psychological well-being, it is categorized as physical violence since the
action of snatching may often involve physical violence.
Corporal punishment is a violent act commonly
applied on children in Africa. According to a study on violence against girls
in Africa (African Child Policy Forum, 2006), 72.0%, and 60.8% of children were
reported to have been slapped and hit with sticks respectively.
Beating of School Girls (not as corporal
punishment). The data in this study suggests that girls are
subjected to physical attack to them not
as a form of corporal punishment but rather as a harassment, degrading
and attempts at initiating
sexual relationship. This includes verbal insult, degrading/humiliating,
threatening and name calling were identified and described. These violent acts
were merged resulting psychological violence and abuse on school girls. School
girls are vulnerable to these psychological violence and abuse at school, on
the way to or from school and at home. They are detrimental to the
psychological development, well-being and education of school girls.
III.
Genital
Female Mutilation;
Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM) is defined as comprising ‘all procedures involving
partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to
the female genital organs whether for cultural or other non-reasons” (WHO,
cited in NCTPE 2003:76). The students, parents and teachers were asked
whether FGM was practiced at home. The quantitative data show that there is a
very small percentage of such a practice in Mbeya City, and especially Itebwa
Secondary, and they had got a very minute similar perception of the prevalence
of FGM among them.
The
picture above shows the children subjected to female genital multilation
IV.
Abduction;
Abduction
implies the taking of the girl (bride) without her consent. The girl is
attacked and forcefully taken away. In most cases, she is raped by the man, who
will subsequently be her husband. In many cases, the man’s (abductor’s) parents
endorse the abduction because they cannot afford the bride-price. In most
cases, it takes a small compensation paid to the the girl’s (abducted bride’s)
parents to get them to publicly acknowledge that their daughter is now married
to her abductor. Following the compensation, the marriage is often formalized
through the involvement of elders. Having been raped, the girl is no longer an
attractive wife for any other men. The respondents said that abduction is still
practiced in their localities.
V.
Early
Forced Married
Forced
marriage entails mental and psychological coercion, bribery and harassment used
to force a girl to enter into marriage. In this context, forced marriage
differs from early arranged marriage in the age of betrothal for girls might be
even before birth takes place or after puberty. However, this can blur the fine
line between forced and arranged marriage since the element of consent from the
girl is usually absent (Guday 2004, 2007).
Early
marriage, is explained in wider sense as “any marriage carried out below the
age of 18 years, before the girl is physiologically and psychologically ready
to shoulder the responsibilities of marriage and childbearing” (IAC
1995, FMRWG 2000).
A
pictureabove shows a secondary school girl aged 16yrs old expossed to eary
marrige
VI.
Excessive
Workload at Home
In many
context children as young as 5-9years old are required to perform various tasks
related to domestic and farm activities. This is especially true of rural
school children who have to work on farms before and after school and also
during weekends. The situation of school girls in particular is worrying
because of these double roles they are expossed to mass failure in the class. Such
excessive working at home and on the farms is detrimental to their physical,
emotional and intellectual development. It is from this point of view in which
excessive work is highly taken an abuse or violence. Both parents and students
were asked about the excessive work that school girls assume in various
settings. The responses revealed that excessive work occurs in Mbeya as well especially
at home. Where girls are supossed to perform domestic duties and then go to
school as well, and those families possessing farms make their children do
farming before the go to school.
There
has been an increasing focus and concentration on violence against children
especialy girls. This has also pulled many researchers to research on this area
and as a result has led to many publications of the same topics. There has been
a growing interest in researching on the roles and lives of children and
awareness about the need for the active participation of children in this
regard. Indeed this is a promising trend because every study on violence
against children and active involvement of children will indeed increase the
awareness of violence against children and their roles they should play in
development efforts concerning their lives. The literature review of this study
is focused on a few selected publications of particular evidences and relevance
to the present study. In review to these selected literatures, an attempt has
been made to firstly focus on findings which go hand to hand with the findings
of the present study. Thus, findings which are also identified by the present
study have not been dealt with in detail in the review of the selected
publications.
Action
Aid (2000) examined ‘’Violence
against girls and the right to education’’, conducted in Uganda, the study shows
how poverty, war and conflict expose girls to sexual violence and exploitation,
as well as other abuses. Girls were pregnated due to lack of food and money
during the war here in Bundibugyo. “Our parents would tell us that we are the
ones to feed the family so we would go to soldiers in the camp and get money to
buy food”. Girls are very vulnerable when they have to walk long distances to
school, particularly in rural and poor urban areas. The study or initial
research has found that violence against girls takes place in schools, on the
way to school and around schools and that the violence itself takes many forms.
It includes sexual violence, sexual harassment, intimidation, teasing and the
threat of violence.
A study conducted by UN (2006) in South
Asia, West and Central Africa, Latin America, North America, East Asia and the
Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Eastern and
Southern Africa on ‘’An End to Violence against
Children’’. It is
the first comprehensive global study on all forms of violence against children.
The study also represents the first United Nations study to directly and
consistently involve children underlining and reflecting children’s status as
rights holders, and their right to express views on all matters that affect
them and have their views given due weight. The study revealed that much of the
violence against children, in most parts of Mbeya City, Country and the world at large, goes unreported and
unnoticed. Moreover, the study found out that parents often feel themselves guilt
of violence and that governments havent established systems which would address
violence and its causes. Instead, the lack of information on the violence
against children is recognized as a major problem.
Derese (1997)
conducted a study on “Studies on violence against children and
girls in Ethiopia’’. The study reported that there was a
considerable amount of violence ranging from intimidation and minor
physical attack to bullying snatching personal belongings, attempted
rape, causing injury to sensitive organs, stabbing and even killing in schools
and around schools. The study further disclosed teachers and head masters
commit violent acts on students when they fail to observe school
regulations, or to do homework, and display disruptive behavior.
A Khan (1998) ‘Pakistan Coalition for Education’ Pakistan is a
signatory to various international instruments on women’s rights including
CEDAW, which it ratified in 1996.
In
response to the Beijing Plan of Action as well as ratification of CEDAW,
Pakistan has pursued initiatives to implement gender equality and women’s
empowerment. Further, the Constitution (1973) prohibits discrimination based on
sex. In December 2011, Parliament unanimously passed two landmark laws aimed at
protecting women from negative customs.
The
new law seeks to punish offences against women such as forced marriages,
depriving them from inheritance and marriage to the Quran. The second law
criminalizes throwing acid at girls and women with life imprisonment as the
maximum sentences for offenders.
Only
four in 10 of Pakistani women over the age of 15 can read and write, compared
to 70% of men. This dramatic educational disadvantage is the result of a deeply
unequal education system. Although girls’ enrolment rates have improved, the
net rate at primary level is still just 60%, compared to 72% for boys. At
secondary level, the performance is even more
appalling
(although the gender difference is smaller): the net enrolment rate for girls
is just 29%. Altogether, more than 8 million girls of school age (primary and
secondary) are not in school. In addition, Pakistan has recently experienced
one of the worst monsoon floods in history. Around 680,000 girls were affected,
and if they miss the start of the academic session,
it
will reinforce the multiple barriers to education they already face.
Violence
against women in the form of physical, sexual and emotional abuse is widespread
in Pakistan. Strict family, tribal and religious customs mean that some intimidating
activities have become cultural norms, while domestic violence is seldom
reported and rarely investigated. Violent acts committed mainly by men against
women within the context of the subordinate status of women which society seeks
to preserve include domestic violence; sexual violence; traditional harmful
practices including female genital mutilation, honor killing and dowry-related
violence; and human trafficking. Such widespread violence against women can
impact severely on girls’ and women’s education even when it does not take
place at school: studies conducted in northern Pakistan, for instance, have
found that girls’ access to education was “severely” restricted because of
their families’ fear of violence whilst traveling. It should, moreover, be
noted that female teachers, as well as students, can be the victims of
violence: a report by USAID in north west Pakistan found that female teachers
were frequently threatened or assaulted in the villages where they work and are
frightened to leave the school. As well as the severe impact on these women,
this will discourage other women from working as teachers, which in turn
further damages girls’ educational prospects.
WHO (2002) the study conducted on ‘‘Violence and
Health’’. WHO reported that Violence and Health is
another global and very comprehensive study.
The study was prompted by the realization that violence increasingly leads to
severe health (physical as well
as mental) problems. The Forty-ninth World Health Assembly, stated: ‘Noting with great concern the dramatic worldwide increase in the incidence of intentional injuries
affecting people of all ages and both, but especially women and children’,
Recognizing the serious and immediate
future long-term implications for health and psychological and social development
that represents violence for individuals,
families, communities and countries; Recognizing the growing consequences of violence for health care services
everywhere and its detrimental
effect on scarce health care resources for countries and communities.
CHAPTER
THREE
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES
This
chapter is based on the research approach, research design, area of the study,
target population, sampling techniques and procedures, sample size as well as
research tools (methods of data collection) and methods of data analysis.
The
overall methodology involved both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The
primary data collection included administration of questionnaire with girls in
school (who were currently at school). In addition to a quantitative survey,
qualitative information were collected by interviewing key informants such as
school teachers (males and females), local elites, headmasters, parents, NGOs
working in the study areas, District authorities such as District Education
Officer and Women Development Office. Qualitative approaches of data collection
included focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with girls in school,
and key informant interviews.
Desk
review was carried out on existing literature on girl's violence in the
education sector that included previous reports/research studies on violence
against girls and education.
A case
study design were used to get data on the violence against girls in secondary
schools and the impacts on girls’ education in Tanzania and their respective challenges
as well as suggestions of solutions to many problems facing education system in
Tanzania. The study was based on the case of one secondary school which is in Mbeya
City Council (Itebwa Secondary School) in Mbeya. The qualitative and quantitative approaches used so as to obtain
in deep the information concerning the violence against girls in secondary
schools and the impacts on girls’ education in Tanzania especially at Mbeya
City Council.
The
study was conducted at Itebwa Secondary School found in Mbeya City council
which is one among the councils forming Mbeya region in Tanzania.
The
study was covered both Staff members of Itebwa Secondary School, (Teachers and
Non-Teaching Staff Members). Students and some of the parents were met meet and
explored information from them.
This study involved simple
random sampling and judgmental sampling techniques as well as accidental
sampling.
A.
The
simple random sampling;
This is the type of sampling
technique where by every member in the population has equal chance of being
selected from a sample size. From each class within a school, five students were
selected randomly to represent others and even the community members picked
randomly to represent the whole community.
B.
Judgmental
sampling technique;
This is the non probability
sampling technique where by the decision to which element should be included in
the sample size rests to the researcher’s judgment. In this study especially
students and Teachers were more involved.
In this study about 75% of
the targeted population as the sample to be included in the study was
successfully attended. Among these 40% was selected using simple random
technique and 25% was selected using judgmental technique and 10% was conducted
using accidental sampling.
a.
Sample size with simple
random sampling
Designation
|
Population
study
|
Sample
size selected
|
% of
sample selected
|
Head of the school
|
1
|
1
|
100
|
Academic master
|
1
|
1
|
100
|
Students
|
400
|
80
|
20
|
Teaching Staff
|
23
|
10
|
43
|
Total
|
425
|
92
|
21.6
|
b. Selected
sample with judgmental sampling technique
Types
of respondent
|
Total
population in a sample
|
Sample
size selected
|
% of
the sample
|
Parents
|
20
|
5
|
25
|
Non-Teaching Staff
|
10
|
5
|
50
|
Total
|
30
|
10
|
33.3
|
Both Primary and secondary
data were collected in this study. Primary data were gathered using methods like interview, questionnaire,
observation, and checklist. Secondary data
are the second hand information which includes published information for
example from books, journals, previously done research and from administrators. Therefore; in this study the research
methods like interview and documentary review (published documents) were
applied in data collection.
The
qualitative data collected from the respondents are organized, coded, and analyzed
through tables. Tables and graphs will be drawn and percentages will be
calculated in order to facilitate interpretation and drawing of conclusion.and
some pictures are attached to show more clarity.
AN OVERVIEW ON
THE CAUSES OF VIOLENCE AND ABUSE ON SCHOOL GIRLS
Violence against women and girls is not mainly
based on certain societies or cultures or countries only but it is universal. This
is existing or being practised across the whole world. A very extensive study
was conducted by The UN Secretary General and he examined structural causes of
violence against women and lastly he identified that there is no single cause
but rather a ‘combination of individual factors within a broader context of inequality’.
The core factors which facilitate dominance and subordination of women are as
suggested below; culture of the socieety, economic inequality, consequence of
poverty for women hence violence keeps women poor, and poor women are most exposed
to violence.
And also
one of the worst effects is that of a state of affairs undermining women in the
education sector, the educational development of girls, denying them their
basic human right to education and increasing the gender gap in formal educational
development.This is under Article 26
of United Nations Declaration,of Human Rights; ‘the right to education’’.
Research has come out with various reasons
contributing to gender-based violence to girls especially acts of sexual
violence. These unlawful acts have been part of the behavior and attitudes of
employees in school environments and elders in the society. But recently people
are becoming aware and are trying to raise about these issues, though research
indicates that much efforts is to be done, as there are few intervention
strategies in place to resolve this situation. As Mgala el at say: “It is thought that sexual exploitation of
young girls is common within educational institutions in much of Africa, but
data is scarce and interventions to address the issue still very few.”
(Mgala et al: 1998). Below are the main causes of the violence against school girls
in Tanzania;
I.
Lower Academic achievement; The first and
very important reason contributing girls being the target for sexual abuse from
male staff is academic underachievement. Some male teachers use girls’
weaknesses in the classroom as a weapon to threaten, humiliate and force them
to do things even if it is against their will.
II.
Facts
are now being revealed: for example, Jo Evans, a victim of sexual abuse in the school environment at the
age of ten wrote a book entitled “An
Invisible Child” more than 30 years after she was subjected to sexual abuse
by her Head Teacher. And most of the students attended my interviews and this
study as well as parentts and stakeholders proved this reason.
III.
Misuse of position and power; this study has identified
that many people working in schools, especially teachers,and other school
workers are mostly justifying and rationalizing their entitlement to see
certain girls in potentially improper circumstances. They may choose to do so
even for unclear reasons, or sometimes simply because they want to show their
power and intimidate girls in order to fulfill their sexual desires. In some
cases, though, the girls develop some rather risky coping mechanisms in dealing
with the problems they face. The quantitative data also show that some teachers
and schoolboys take advantage of the girls, who in various ways try to manage
in the education system.
IV.
Lack of understanding of the
Children Act 1989 and Human Rights Act 1998; People
working in the education sector have taken a long time to gain knowledge and
understanding of the rights of children at all levels. For example, a teacher
might observe another teacher calling a girl to his office every day, giving
excuses that the summonsed girl was not doing well in his subject and he would
like to give her some extra tuition or punishment to reinforce self-discipline
and encourage her to do better. This type of teacher should be challenged,
taking into consideration the age of the girl as well as the scheduling
environment of the meeting.
V.
Culture and traditions; The traditional and
cultural types of violence and abuse identified in the study primarily take
place in the home setting. In some cultures, especially in the past, girls were
not allowed to talk and discuss anything about their teachers’ behavior. For example,
when Jo Evans decided to speak up after being abused by the Head Teacher for
two years, she chooses to tell a friend. The friend ignored Jo’s warning that
she should not tell anyone, and told the whole story to her own mother, who,
fortunately, was a friend of Jo’s mother. She decided to talk to Jo and ask her
to tell her mother herself, otherwise she would be the one to tell. Finally, Jo
told her mother about the abuse, although she did not give the full story and a
clear picture of all the incidents she had experienced because her abuser was a
family friend of her parents and she did not want to jeopardize their
relationship. In the end her father went to see the abusing Head Teacher, whose
explanation was that he was just trying to punish Jo because she was not doing
well in his math’s class. Jo’s parents were satisfied and the issue was never
spoken of again, but Jo herself did not forget it.
VI.
Poor
mentality of parents towards their daughter marriges.
The study identified tha in most of the areas in Mbeya where early Marriage is
practiced, the virginity of the girls is given high value. The fear of the girl
(voluntarily or forced) losing her virginity and maybe even becoming pregnant
before marriage, this is a key motivating factor for the parents to marry their
daughters off in an early age. In some communities, the marriage should take
place before the girl gets her first menstruation. Therefore, this is violence
against school girls because they cannot participate in academic issues and
eventually school attendance will be poor.
VII.
The need
for domestic workers in towns, although according to this study, less boys are becoming
house boys as compared to girls who leave school life and becoming house girls
in towns.. Another underlying factor is the reproduction of traditional gender
roles. Just as the virginity is important to ensure a good marriage for the
girl so are her proven skills as a wife, cook and caretaker in the family.This
ruins the future life of these girls because they are hindered from attending
secondary education and after completing their primary education most of them
are being taken or forced to work in towns as house keepers instead of joining further study for the betterment of
their life in the future. Her focus shall be entirely on her future
reproductive and productive roles in the household of her husband. She shall
respect and obey her husband and of course remain faithful to him.This habit
ruin girls right to education as per (Article
26) of United Nations of Human Rights Declaration.
VIII.
Lack of
gender issue and equality; This
study shows that Equality between men
and women may be accepted as a principle in many societies, yet a number of
obstacles to make equality a reality remain, for instance employment,
education, and inheritance. There is even resistance among some states to adopt
‘temporary special measures’ to eradicate discrimination against women. As long
as such discrimination against women is accepted, so is violence against women.
Serious problems also persist in societies that are traditionally seen as those
with gender equality. Amnesty International has documented significant
shortcomings in state responses to rape and sexual violence in countries that
are often praised on gender equality.
IX.
Poverty and Illiteracy ; This study identified that,
most of the respondents think that poverty and illiteracy are the root causes
of violence against girls in school. They say that because of poverty
violence against girls is increasing. Also illiteracy is another important
reason for violence against girls. The key informants say that because people
are illiterate in the society they do not send girls to school/ girls are not
given education.
X.
The lack
of freedom among girls in the society; This
study met the key informants who think that girls are not given freedom. They
saythat there is a belief which takes
girls out to a trip is risky. Also when girls participate in social functions
such as singing and dancing they face violence due to their style of wearing
(half naked waring styles). Also the key informants said that because girls do
not speak out freely or walk about freely so they fall prey to violence. The
society fears that if something happens to a girl she will be will be separated
from them therefore parents/ guardians do not let girls to go out freely.
XI.
The works expossed to girls who lack education; This study came
across with the key informants who hold the views that girls are sexually
exploited in many ways. Girls are asked to sell drinks, like in
Bar,Cancinoes,Grocery,Pubs where they are exposed to forced sexual acts and
sometimes being raped when they dont obey to offer sexes. Some girls are
encouraged to work in hotels and restaurants where they are forced to engage in
sex work. Girls are sent to jungles to collect wood, asked to work in family
farms where they are often raped and sometimes killed. Some key informants
think that because of poverty girls are sexually exploited.
In most of
the areas covered by this study, participants and respondents believed that
violence and abuse seriously affects girls education and future life. It
hinders girls’ access to school and negatively affects their school routeen in
terms of attendance, concentration, class activity, academic achievement and
ultimately leads to grade repetition and school dropout. This section describes
the effects of different types of violence and abuse on the following aspects
of girls’ education: access to education, educational participation, and
academic achievement, dropout from school and future life.
The qualitative data gathered through FGDs and
general interviews indicate that violence and abuse against school girls do
discourage parents from sending their daughters to school because they are most
concerned with making the safe from violence. This was mentioned by 50% of the
respondent parents who indicated that violence against school girls has a high
discouraging effect on parents’ interest to send their daughters to school.
Most of the parents whose daughters are threatened by boys do not allow their
daughters to go to school because of fear of sexual violence. As shown in the table below;
Parents’
Evaluation of the Effects of Violence in Discouraging Them from Sending
their Daughters to School
Response
|
Frequency
|
%
|
High
|
40
|
50
|
Moderate
|
15
|
18.75
|
Low
|
15
|
18.75
|
No
effects
|
10
|
12.5
|
Total
|
80
|
100.00
|
The
major indicator of gender differential access to education is enrolment rate in
general and Primary education (Grades 1-8) gross enrolment rate in particular.
According to MOE (2007), the primary gross enrolment rate at national level has
reached 85.8%, when disaggregated by gender; it is 78.5% for girls and 92.9%
for boys in the year 2005/06. This indicates that girls’ gross enrolment in
primary education, is lower than that of boys.
From all
spheres of life, girls lag behind boys in their educational participation (MOE,
1999). For example, the net education participation rate at the primary level
is 74% (70% for girls). The participation rate is lower for girls compared to
that of boys. Violence directly affects girls negatively from attending to
schools, their concentration, classroom activity and completion of homework,
all of these are closely linked to their educational participation. Girls are
less likely to attend school regularly than boys and when they attend class,
they are less likely to concentrate and ask/answer questions. Any physical,
sexual or psychological assault appearing against school girls are to destruct
the general future of these school girls, who are already affected of these
violances acts happening to them.
Ø Girls poor attandance to
school; One of the immediate effects
of violence on school girls is that it reduces their ability to attend
classes. A girl who has been verbally abused or sexually harassed by her teacher
is more likely to skip the teacher’s class in order to avoid further
abuse or harassment. Also a girl who has been sexually assaulted on the way to
and from school is discouraged from going to school. Presence of excessive
workload at home often leads to late arrival in school and consequently school
girls may be forced to miss one or two subjects or whole school day because of
the closed school gates. In this regard, student respondents were asked about
their views of the impact of violence on girls’ school absenteeism. The
results were as follows;
Student
Respondents’ Evaluation of the Effects of Violence on
Girls’
School Absenteeism.
Sex
|
High
|
Moderate
|
Low
|
No effects
|
Female
|
60%
|
27%
|
27%
|
4%
|
Male
|
42%
|
34%
|
18%
|
6%
|
Number of
respondents; Male30, Female 50.
Ø Reduces girls ability to
Concentration; this
study identified that violence
against school girls reduces their ability to concentrate on their lessons. Sexual
or physical violence in the family or on the way to and from school has a destructive
effect on school girls’ concentration in the classroom. For example, a raped girl
will be unable to concentrate on the lesson. All these can attend classes with full
energy and happily and unfortunately having no interest in the subjects being
taught.
One of
the parents who involved in one of the interviews said that he is very unhappy with what happened to her daughter because she
was sexual harassed on the way from school. Hence he decided to release her
daughter from school than letting her attain education.
Poor attendence in Class Activity; Class participation inthe lesson
at school is one of important indicator
of girls’ educational participation, lack of it is a
sign of poor involvement in the learning process.
Following
Hart’s (1992) ladder of participation, Holden & Clough (1998) identified
the different levels by which students can participate in education activities
ranging from manipulation and tokenism to self-initiated decisions in which
students actively and positively influence their learning outcomes.
The data
from study interviews suggests that those school girls who are affected by
violence and abuse tend to develop a less attitude towards classroom activities
and their participation often remains at the level of escaping rather than
active engagement. Generally, girls at school are less likely to ask/answer
questions in class compared to school boys who ask/answer questions. Also they are
oftenly running behind in completing class activities.
Normally
these kind of the problems like Girls violence do impose school girls from lacking
confidence, low morale, low self-esteem
in involving in all matters pertaining education matters especially activities.
Degrading
comments and verbal insult by teachers and boys certainly do not encourage the
participation of the girls. As described earlier some teachers insult and even
sexually harass girls who give wrong answers. Also clever girls, who try to be
active in the class, may face insults and harassment from their fellow male
students. Active participation in class also requires regular class attendance
and for the majority of abused school girls, it is very unlikely that they have
been regularly attending class and hence they might miss some important
lessons. This puts them in a disadvantaged position even when they try to do
class activities.
The
effects of certain types of violence on girls’ class participation were assessed
by cross tabulating some of the girls and the results showed that school girls
who experienced beating, excessive workload, abduction and rape more frequently
assessed violence as highly contributing to girls’ low class participation.
Ø
Being
Unable to Complete Homework; Any form of violence against
school girls has a negative impact on their ability to complete school
homework. This reduces their chances of getting good grades and lowers their educational
participation. This is especially true of excessive workloads at home, which
tends to consume their time and energy and hence little or no time
for study and for doing assignments.
Similarly,
constant pestering of school girls has a destructive effect on girls’ ability
to complete homework. A girl who has been verbally abused or sexually harassed
is not likely to be able to concentrate on her study and complete homework on
time. Student respondents were asked about the impact of inability to complete
homework on their educational participation. A good proportion of the
respondents who attempted the question indicated that their inability to
complete homework has high impact on school girls’ educational participation
(in the table below). Difference in the responses between female and male
respondents were observed, with a relatively high proportion of females showing
their agreement of the strong link between not able to complete homework and
reduced educational participation of girls.
Student
Respondents’ Evaluation of the Effects of Violence
on Girls’ Inability to do tests, homeworks, assignments and exams.
Sex
|
High
|
Moderate
|
Low
|
No effect
|
Female
|
45%
|
40%
|
10%
|
5%
|
Male
|
30%
|
50%
|
15%
|
5%
|
Total Number of
respondents: Female 47; Male 33
Girls
who are victims of violence are more likely perform poorly in school, have
problems of concentration on their academic work, and lose interest in school
altogether, and dropout from school (Human Rights Watch, 2001).
Hiese,
Ellsberg and Goettmoeler (1999) reported that school girls who had been
sexually abused in childhood are more likely to drop out of school, to have
unwanted pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections, to engage in high
risk sexual practices, and to suffer from depression, anxiety and suicidal
thoughts.
With
respect to the effects of violence and abuse on school girls, Human Rights
Watch (2001) reported that violence and abuse on school girls has a profoundly
destabilizing effect on the education of girls. Responses I got from students
in 10 items measuring how often school girls experience violence on three point
scales (always, sometimes and not at all) and how students evaluate the effect
of violence on school girl’s academic achievement on a four point scale (high,
moderate, low and no effect).
The
result showed that different types of violence and abuse experienced by school
girls significantly affect their academic achievement. Girls who experienced
violence and abuse tend to perform low in schools. This causes for instance,
repetition, class participation and dropout.
According
to MOE (2007:25), Grade 5 completion rate for the last five years (2001/02-
2005/06) for boys was 60.2%, whereas it was 43.1% for girls. This implies that
more boys than girls were survived for Grade 6. Similarly, Grade 8 completion
rate for the last five years (2001/02- 2005/06) for boys was 36.2%, whereas it
was 21.7% for girls. This too implies that boys have a better chance of going
to grade 9 (joining the secondary education) than girls (MOE 2007:25). Data
from MOE (2007) show that the overall repetition rate for girls at the primary
level is higher than that of boys. This is supported by the national mean
repetition rate at the primary level, which is 7.7% for girls as compared to
5.7% for boys.
The
student respondents were asked to rate how often school girls experience
different types of violent acts as always, sometime and not at all. The overall
score was obtained and results of cross tabulations with their evaluation of
the effect of violence on girls’ dropout from school
are shown below;
Evaluation
of the Effects Violence on Girls Dropouts from School
How often school
girls experience
violence
|
Responses
|
Effects of violence on dropouts from school (%)
|
Total
|
High
|
Moderate
|
Low
|
No effects
|
Always
|
2.2
|
0.6
|
0.2
|
0.1
|
3.2
|
Sometimes
|
45.0
|
20.2
|
7.4
|
3.3
|
75.9
|
Not at all
|
9.7
|
5.7
|
3.1
|
2.4
|
20.9
|
Total
|
56.9
|
26.5
|
10.8
|
5.8
|
100.0
|
Note: These Data above are from Moe (2007)
The
results show that girls who have experienced some type of violence and abuse
are very likely to dropout from school.
Effects of Violence
on Girls’ Future Life;
The
collected data from my study indicates that violence affects girls’ future life
in various ways. For example, a girl who had been raped is likely to develop
mistrust towards men and this, in turn, is likely to affect her future
relationship with men. They are considered misfits, incapable of managing their
homes or properly performing domestic duties.
Most of
the students parents and teachers who
contributed on the study, reported that
most secondary school girls who are mistreated by their fathers, mothers,
men,male teachers tend to leave school life and run away from their homes.
They
also noted that most rural school girls who are overburdened with excessive
workload at home tend to run away from home to the nearby towns or urban
centers. Most of those who run away end up being bar attendants or commercial
sex workers and other house girls to rich people in towns.
Sexual
violence has damaging effects on the girls health in general. Especially forced
sex can lead girls to sexual transmitted diseases such as, Gonorrhoea, Syphilis,and HIV/AIDS. The
literature supports that those who encountered rape are susceptible to HIV as
it often involves unprotected sex.
Generally,
the evidence from both qualitative and quantitative data as well as from
related secondary sources reveal that the different types of violence and abuse
against school girls negatively affected school girls’ education in various
interrelated aspects.
The
prevalence of violence and abuse in secondary school, on the way to and from
school and at home tended to affect girls’ access to education partly because
of parents’ fear and concern for the safety and security of girls.
Parent respondents indicated that violence
highly discourages them from sending their daughters to school. This in turn
contributes to girls’ lower enrolment ratio compared to boys.
Some use
daladala to go school hance they are harassed sexually by the daladala
condutors as most of girls are told not to give daladala fair rather to offer
sexual intercourse after class.Due to their views the way from Uyole,
Mbalizi,Songwe, Mama John, Nane nane, to forest area where the school is found.
All are to bourder daladalas.
Girls
who experienced violence and abuse tended to be absent from school, have less
concentration in class, reduced class participation, unable to complete
homework. The combined effects of all these leads to lower academic achievement
of girls compared to boys.This is due to psychological effects they got by
being violenced by men. This in turn leads to higher grade repetition rate of
girls compared to boys and ultimately girls may dropout from school. In sum,
violence and abuse against school girls affect their future life in various
ways, including their physical, psychological, educational, social, economic
and general well-being. This contributes to extreme and persistent poverty,
illiteracy and poor health which ultimately affect girls’ future life.
POLICIES, RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING
VIOLENCE AGAINST GIRLS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN TANZANIA
The community,
country, individuals should formulate strategy for coordinating violence approach against girls across all areas, they
should include all forms of violence against violence and have targeted
measures to address domestic violence, sexual violence and all forms of
violence. It should also be coordinated and complement the upcoming strategy on
the Rights of the Child.
Investing
in the protection of school girls and in particular of orphaned and vulnerable
girls, is an investment in a future society free of gender violence. The
respondents from my study suggested the following;
v Tanzania
adopted a Women and Gender Development Policy (WGDP) in 2000, and is in
the process of preparing a National Strategy for Gender Development (NSGD),
aimed at specifying how the WGDP will be implemented. The NSGD defines capacity-building
of key institutions responsible for implementing the gender policy, including
the MCDGC and gender focal points at different levels, as key activities
required to support policy implementation. The challenge is how the Government
of Tanzania, with support from its financial partners, will capture these
concerns as they address poverty reduction in the PRS II process.
v There is suggestion that
government and other educational stakeholders should be able to raise awareness
that gender-based violence in schools is a human rights concern: that girls are
entitled to empowerment through education in a safe learning environment
v Early
marriage for girls should be stopped and they should be allowed to complete
studies even after marriage. Girls think that teachers involved in sexual
violence should be punished and sacked from the school. In order to increase
access of girls to education it is advised that the government should introduce
compulsory schooling for girls.
v In order
to address discriminatory issues girls think that they should not be
discriminated rather they should be encouraged to develop self confidence to
study in school. They should be given freedom to speak in the family as well.
It is suggested that an environment should be created for girls in school to
read and participate in sports just as boys do. Also the suggested that there
should be an arrangement for more female teachers in school and scholarship
should be awarded to poor and diligent girls.
v Most of
the girls participated in this study suggested that awareness programmed is
needed for parents/ guardians to reduce discrimination between boys and girls
and encourage them to send girls to school. They also suggest that there should
be free supply of stationery to girls and fees should not be charged. Girls
suggest that parents/ guardians should not ask girls to do domestic work
instead they should encourage them to study.
v There
are some more strong suggestions from girl students who say girls should be
given equal opportunities in all sports just as boys. They say there should be
free supply of stationery to girls and school dress. Also support should be
given to girls to complete their education as they desire and there should be
additional teaching arrangements for girls in school.
v The
Revolutionary Council of Zanzibar also enacted a similar law, Act no. 7 of 1998
also known as the Sexual Offences (Special Provisions) Act, 1998. Section 125
(1) makes defilement of boys and girls a criminal offense, punishable by
corporal punishment and imprisonment of not less than 25 years. There is a
provision that excludes this from being a criminal act on the part of the man
if his wife has attained puberty or if he believed his wife had attained
puberty. Unfortunately, the definition of the child specifies not only the age
(under 18 years) but a further provision which excludes the application of the
provision if the person is married. This has been interpreted to mean that the
law endorses early marriage, and gives adults the opportunity, through forced
marriage, to“manipulate rape” of minors. (Rwebangira2003).
v At home
and in schools girls are discriminated but they say an environment should be
created for girls to watch TV, listen to radio, and read newspapers and
magazines. At home and in schools, girls should be given good food and clothing
just as boys. Girls say that schools should have increasing number of female
teachers.
o
Also they said that an
arrangement should be made to take girls on trips so that they are encouraged
to study. Parents should not arrange marriage for girls when they are still in
school; there should be no early marriage.
v The suggestion
from respondent is that a policy should be formulated to punish the concerned
of violence against girls in school. They suggest that teachers should pay
attention to girls in class. Awareness is needed for to society, parents and
schools to reduce violence against girls.There should be started programmes
that encourages girls to go to school. Schools need programs that reduce
violence against girls in school. Women empowerment programme is needed and it
should be implemented by women themselves. Girls who have are victims of
violence should be involved in programmes against violence.
v For
girls too, the key informants think that they should not be allowed to wear
dresses that encourage violence thus reflecting how internalized are the
patriarchal norms that girls get what they deserve! The school teachers should
not punish girls at all. Girls who are victims of violence should be given financial
support.
v Many respondents
suggested that there should be separate arrangement in school for girls and
boys to study. Best girl students should be given awards to encourage them for
more education. Schools should be made aware that sexual violence can cause
HIV/AIDS. The perpetrators of violence against girls should be given harsh
punishment. Girls who have been victims of violence should be encouraged not to
lose hopes in life. No environment should be created in school that encourages
sexual harassment. Various organizations should do awareness programmes against
violence. Government should recruit more female teachers..
v
There is a need to recognize the governmental child
protection policies that addresses sexual abuse in the school environment and
provides adequate resources to promote gender-based programmes within schools
through Ministry of education and vocational Training.
v
Raise awareness that there is an urgent need for research to
provide empirical data on child sexual abuse in Tanzania, especially with
reference to gender violence in schools.
v
Test the effectiveness and address the challenges and
limitation of child protection policies and procedures regarding sexual abuse
in schools in Tanzania, and in developing countries especially in Sub-Saharan
Africa.
v Raise
awareness that child protection is a shared responsibility: government
representatives in the education sector, teachers and community at large should
work together in a joint commitment to undertake early interventions to end sexual
violence against girls, focusing on teachers as the key instruments for a
change.
v Awareness
raising programmes on the different types of violence and on relevant policies,
laws, rules and regulation should strongly involve the traditional
structures as they are the major actors in the issue. The effort should
also be sustainable and need a continuous process of making follow up.
There
are also several policy commitments and guidelines concerning violence against
women and children, which are promoted through the Women and Gender Development
Policy (WGDP), the Child Development Policy, and the Youth Policy, among
others. In an effort to operationalize these policy commitments, in 2001 MCDGC
facilitated the development of a National Plan of Action for Combating Violence
against Women and Children. The vision of the plan, although it does not set
clear targets, is intended “to have a society free of physical, psychological,
emotional and sexual violence against women and children by the 2025” (p.5).
More recently, through a participatory process that involved civil society
actors, the Government has prepared a National Plan of Action, set targets, for
the period of 2001 – 2005 for the elimination of FGM. However, there are no
national plans to address other harmful practices such as wife inheritance, and
trafficking women and girls. These harmful practices have important
implications for women’s rights and empowerment.
v The Courts:
The
conventional and orthodox role of the third branch of government, the
judiciary, within the context of separation of powers, is to protect rights
through interpretation of laws. Laws on papers are simply dead letters without
the decisions of courts that bring lives to them. In other words, laws are
found alive only in the decisions of courts. The effort of the police in
investigating crimes and that of the Public Prosecutor in indicting the accused
are eventually to be evaluated by courts that give orders and pass decisions.
The protection of the rights of girl children against any kind of violent acts
cannot be imagined without the involvement of courts. The role of courts in
protection of human rights in general and that of children in particular cannot
be overemphasized.
v Ministry
of Community Development, Women’s Affairs and Children (MCDWC):
The Government of Tanzania established the
Ministry of Community Development, Women’s Affairs and Children (MCDWC) in the
1980s, when the Women in Development (WID) movement was a guiding theme for
socio-political advocacy in Tanzania and worldwide. The MCDWC’s mandate was
later transformed to the Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children
(MCDGC). The role which the MCDGC plays has been evolving. An assessment of
MCDGC in PRS II concluded that the mandate of the MCDGC is too broad, and that
it lacks
a
specific mandate in the context of PRS II. One of the recommendations of the
assessment was that MCDGC should assume responsibility for monitoring and reporting
on progress in addressing gender issues through the Poverty Monitoring Reports
and the Poverty and Human Development Report (PHDR).
v
The
Police:
According to Tanzanian code Act (2009),
criminal justice is set into motion through accusation by any person who
reports any offence. Such reporting is made to the police. Accusations, formal
complaints, or flagrant offences trigger police investigation, and the police
play pivotal role in investigating crimes and in bringing criminals to justice.
v Ministries
of Education and Health:
Various
institutions are also in place for dealing with harmful practices. The
Ministries of Education and Health provide support through educational
materials such as primary care programs (POFLEP), which educate the public on
these harmful practices. Under the MCDGC, a Family Development Section has been
given full coordination responsibilities to handle this particular issue.
v Lack of
commitment and enhenced corruption on Police and Public Prosecutor is a
problem. Parents and students blamed the Police and
Public Prosecutor for being slow, lack of commitment, nepotism and bribery. The
key informants and participants of the FGDs expressed that the cases presented
to the Police and Public Prosecutor did not get the necessary attention in due
time as a result of corruption.
As a
participant in male students’ in this study said, “Whenever the Police and
Public Prosecutor wanted to take side with perpetrators. The problems of
nepotism, bribery, wealth and power were mentioned as influencing the pace at
which a case is dealt with and the final outcome of the case brought before
these offices. The powerful (in terms of both political and economic power)
could greatly influence the course of legal process.
v Capacity: A major
problem arising from inadequate enforcement of law and policies relate to the
capacity of institutions entrusted with the enforcement. Both the judiciary
and the institutions of law enforcement in Tanzania have been
characterized by lack of human resources and essential facilities. Police and
Public Prosecutors must necessarily be given special training with the view to
equip them with the technical and legal capacity to investigate and handle cases
of violence against schoolgirls. Appropriate trainings, both short and long
term, including refresher and specialized courses, must thus be given to
the Police, Public Prosecutors, Women’s Affairs Offices; Community based
Organizations and different associations. Building the capacity of these institutions,
organizations and associations should not be restricted to trainings.
v Failure to Report/Inform: A
culture of silence and secrecy that prevails in our communities has been having
a negative influence on children and discourages them to report and/or
disclose violent acts. The stigma attached to going public and
disclosing violence and attacks perpetrated on young school girls has
made situations even worse and many children would opt to remain silent
victims. Even parents and relatives in many circumstances would prefer
to remain silent and would not be willing to expose violence perpetrated
against their own children or children who are closely related to them.
v Lack of
transparency and accountability is also a constraint in the implementation of
the laws. If legal processes are long, transparency is
usually compromised. Steps in business processes are very often not known to
service seekers and/or clients. Bureaucratic and hidden ways of handling public
affairs leads to undesirable and unethical practices. Lack of institutional
transparency also contributes to misuse and misappropriation of public funds
and thus adding to the low capacity by the institution to carry out its duties.
Transparency ensures good governance that is free from corruption, nepotism and
favoritism. And the absence of these vices positively contributes towards the
implementation of laws whereas lack of transparency is indeed an impediment to implementation
of laws.
v Contradictions between Modern
Laws and Traditional Customary Laws: There are contradictions between the introduction
of modern law and tradition law in communities, especially in the rural areas , perform rituals,
reconciliation and adjudicate their civil and criminal cases according to customary laws and practices of the respective
ethnic groups. One of the
findings of the study is that there is tension between tradition and modernity
law.
v Lack of awareness of
Government Polices, Rules and Regulations: Awareness
of participants and key informants’ about policies, rules, regulations and strategies
were found to be patchy. Key informants and participants of this study
generally tended to say ‘yes’ to a question “Are there policies, rules
and regulations against violence on schoolgirls in your or
school.” Nevertheless, when they were asked whether the community at
large was aware of these polices, rules, regulations and strategies, their
responses were inconclusive. However, there were some differences among
different groups of respondents: students, teachers, parents and key
informants as indicated in the subsequent discussions.
v In
summing up all the above discussions with regards to policies, rules and
regulation reveal that Tanzania needs a comprehensive Policy on matters
pertaining to children. The desired policy must be such that it would be so
comprehensive not to leave out any aspect of children’s affairs in the country.
Furthermore, it is important to ensure that the legislation relating to
children is not contradicting each other and that principles applied in one law
is reflected in other laws where necessary.
So many
studies from Tanzania, Africa and theWorld in general have identified
widespread violence and abuse against children especially School girls. This study
is additional to the studies on violence which, focused on girls in secondary
schools. In current years the Tanzanian Government, donors and societies have greatly
tried to raise awareness to the importance of girls’ education and have
successfully managed to increase enrollment rate of girls in all levels of
secondary schools. This achievement has been aided by increasing number
government secondary schools, private secondary schools and alternative basic
education centers. This results to increased number of female teachers and a
general awareness on raising campaign and mobilization within the communities. Though,
it has not been realized that there are other factors that affect girls’
success in getting an education. For an example one of the most prevailing
factors is violence and abuse of school girls.
This
study has discovered that secondary school girls in most part of the country
are subjected to various types of abuse and violence; in their homes, on their
way to and from school as well as in the schools. The types of violence and
abuse differ in prevalence across the country and there are urban and rural
variations as well. The types of violence and abuse can roughly be divided into
traditional forms of violence such as abductions, early and forced marriage and
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and acts of violence which are not based on
traditional norms and values. These types of violence include corporal
punishment, beating, sexual harassment, snatching of property, insult and
degrading. Much more other societies do reflect a patriatism society in which
girls are considered having a lower status than men or sometimes not concidered
in all important matters in their families.
The
traditional types of girls violence have a greater effects on girls’ access to
education. Early and forced marriage either prevents girls from being enrolled
or may cause them to dropout from secondary schools. Abduction equally presents
a major threat against the girls’ education; in particular, because it is a threat
the girls face on their way to and from school. Female Genital Mutilation those
types committed at the girls when they are in schooling age will certainly
interrupt their school attendance and affects girls psychologically. More so,
as shown in the analysis of the causes behind the violence, the traditional
practices forces girls into a traditional role as obedient wives or wives to be
a role, which does not fit in the modern education system and the norm and
values of the system.
In the
specific context of this study, focusing on school girls and therefore also
specifically on violence found in the school, the study has identified that
school environments are not free from violence. Corporal punishment, which is
in fact banned by legislation, is still very prevalent in the schools.
Particular worrying are the findings of sexually related violence in the school
settings as well as the various type of degrading, insulting and harassing the
girls also within the school setting.
One of
the worst forms of violence is sexual assault and rape. The study has found
evidence of high prevalence of this type of violence in schools, on the way to
and from the school as well as in the homes. The fact is that most of students
have replied “yes” to having experienced sexual assault and rape in the school
must raise great concerns for all stakeholders in and around the education
system.
The
study has identified many perpetrators of violence and abuse of the school
girls. Although is not possible to clearly establish who exactly is the
perpetrator of which type of violence, the study has at least identified who
the perpetrators in the three different settings are. The general picture
provided in the quantitative data concerning perpetrators is that both male and
female are perpetrators and that the main perpetrators are those relatively
close to the girls including family, friends and fellow school boys and girls.
Male students and the out of school boys were identified as the main
perpetrators of sexual violence and abuse against girls.
The
findings that deal with young perpetrators clearly indicate a huge need for
boys and girls to adjust their relationships to the modern situation where
girls no longer become obedient wives in a very young age and where they try to
act on equal terms with the boys. To end this violence against the girls their
parents, teachers and boys and the girls themselves must be able to envision a
relationship between the sexes that involves sharing warmth and equality and
then develop social systems that foster those concepts. The school setting is
an ideal place to begin such a process.
The
girls seem to be caught in a vicious cycle in which their struggle to get an
education instead of being married in an early age expose them to violence and
abuse, which then leads to low level of academic performance, class repetition
and eventually dropping out of the school. As much as the school is part of the
problem, it is also part of the solution. The fact that some of the main
perpetrators are older school boys and also female students underline that the
school itself can and should play a major role in eliminating the violence. On
the way to and from school also out of school boys are among the main
perpetrators. Thus the school and the community should work together in
reaching those groups.
Finally
it is important to consider girls not only as victims but also as important
players in bringing into the traditional Tanzanian society new norms and
values. The education system and its stakeholders must therefore take good care
in supporting the girls in achieving their goals. As one of the girl in this
study said; “We are living in something old, but trying something
new!” These are the challenges that the education system in Ethiopia has to
address and deal with.
Based on
the findings and conclusions of the study, the following recommendations have
been put forward to all concerned institutions and stakeholders:
v Raise
the awareness among parents and communities about the rights of children and
women in general and rules and regulations by the Ministry of Education as well
as local school rules and regulations in particular.
v
Advise
children to report people who practice bad things to them other than keeping
quiet, and also teach children to report their fellow children who do bad
things to them to elders so that they do not fight one another.
v There
should be establishment of schools nearer to villages and provide hostels,
which may reduce much the issue of expossing girls to men who can ruin their
future by engaging with them sexually to and from school.
v Child
rights and protection laws (especially girls) are found scattered in various
laws. In order to facilitate the protection of the rights of the child and with
the aim of implementing the UN CRC, consolidation and harmonization of the
different provisions into a comprehensive children's act is necessary. The
process would include collection, revision and improvement of the existing
legislation as well as drafting new provisions. A comprehensive policy on all
aspects of children's affairs in the country should also be developed with
concrete strategies for actual implementation.
v Responsible
government forces must be applied in reporting and ensuring actions are taken
to enforce to the implementation of school rules and regulations. For instance,
educational institutions at various levels must constantly monitor report and
take action against malpractices such as corporal punishment in schools.
Advocate for revision of the existing school rules and regulations and their
effective implementation.
v Establish
and strengthen school children’s protection committees with representatives of
children (of different age groups) and representatives from the adult school
community, including female teachers. The committee shall monitor violence and
abuse within the school as well as on the way to and from school. The committee
shall be mandated to design and implement various protection systems as well as
disciplinary measures against the perpetrators. The committee shall also
monitor if any students are subjected to harmful traditional practices in their
home/ community and shall be mandated to intervene in such cases.
v Establish
and strengthen girls’ clubs and boys clubs for girls and boys in primary and
secondary schools. The clubs shall be initiated by adults but handed over to
the children for them to run the clubs. The clubs shall be empowered to give
peer education, report and follow up on violence and abuse in and around the
school.some of them may be FEMA Club, RED-CROSS Club.
v Increase
awareness about the negative effect of harmful traditional practices within the
local communities. General awareness campaigns must be supported by concrete
mobilization of religious and community leaders, including health
professionals, educators, religious readers and politicians
v Increasing
the range of punishments imposed on
offenders of violence and abuse against school girls, especially rape cases in
which the range is between 10 – 30 years or life imprisonment. Rape cases
should be treated as special and severe criminal issues, not as ordinary sexual
related offences.Because it if offensive to human rights, and ruins women
opportunities.
v Undertake
advocacy work concerning violence and abuse against children in general and
school girls in particular through public mobilization and participation by in
the school system, local state structures, the media, and Civil Society
Organizations.
v Involve
NGOs and civil society organization in community mobilization and creation of
child protection structures (including the way to and from school) and in
general awareness raising and mobilization for the promotion of human and child
rights.such as FEMA CLUBS, FEMINA, SPW, TUNAJALI, TAMWA, and RED CROSS.
v Establish
a mechanism at school level to support girls in reporting violence and abuse
and to provide appropriate counseling and other necessary support victims of
violence.Within the school and to parents as well for their safety.
v Strengthening
communication between school and parents, through the parents and Teachers
Associations which should be available. The school authorities shall be
proactive and reach out to the parents in the communities.
v Strengthen
the HIV/AIDS clubs and ensure the clubs include topics such as family planning,
use of condoms and effects of sexual and gender based violence.
Areas For Future Research;
ü The
focus of this study was mainly conducted at Itebwa Secondary School. As a
result of this, the prevalence and extent of violence against girls in other
secondary schools and are not adequately treated. Therefore, there would be a
need to undertake further study on the problems of these groups of girls.
ü The
focus of this study was mainly on violence against secondary school girls.
However, the problem of violence is not limited to this group. Hence this
stimulates us to conduct for further study addressing problems related to
violence against non-school and out of school girls. It is believed that
integrating the results of this study with other studies will enable concerned people
to develop a comprehensive strategy and policy on violence confronting the female
children.
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