Activists, police call for joint efforts to end sodomy
GENDER –based activists and the Police Force have urged parents within local communities to join efforts in helping the government to stamp out the increasing wave of incidences of sodomy against young boys in the country.
Moreover, it has been urged that Tanzania will only manage to eliminate incidences of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and other forms of atrocities towards all genders and at all ages if all members from communities will glue spiritual efforts against the unwanted societal malpractices.
During an interview with the ‘Daily News’ on the sidelines of a recent event organised by Action Aid Tanzania in Chamwino District in the capital city Dodoma, as part to cement observation of this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against GBV, the Head of Gender and Children Desk at Police Headquarters, Inspector Kija Banka, said violence towards boys are on the rise.
“Experiences prove that cases of boys who are being sodomised by unfaithful elders keep on mounting, the serious physical-psychological atrocity which calls for collective efforts to be timely eroded,” she observed.
She insisted that while the country continues to accelerate diverse efforts to counter other forms of GBV against women and girls it was high time for the involved stakeholders to realise and start to take serious measures to end incidences of sodomy against helpless boys whose futures are being destroyed by some unscrupulous adults.
Ms Jovina Nawenzake, who is Action Aid Tanzania Head of Programne and Policy said the humanitarian organisation will continue to stand at forefront to supplement useful interventions being implemented by the government in the war against all forms of GBV across the country.
“It’s disconcerting to see the negative way in which girls continue to be crowded far from their statutory rights, including the right to education due to early pregnancies and marriage,” she said.
She urged the government to continue setting up useful policies and regulation to help end the unwelcomed acts, but also to improve and place friendly policies to assure women in the private and public sector are not being undermined at their working places.
“It’s high time all stakeholders in the GBV chain come together with the government to silence all incidences and GBV related habits in order to make Tanzania the comfortable sky for roofing all citizens,” she challenged.
Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SACP), Ulrich Matei, who graced the event warned that the Police Force will not spare anyone who perpetuate any form of GBV across the country.
“We have so far established and we’ll continue to set up more gender desks at different locations within the country in order to assure we stand timely and professional to eliminate all forms of GBV across the country,” he warned.
Apart from that, he warned against the negative tendency by some parents to not report matters pertaining GBV at the gender desks as they instead solve the issues at their home roofs, saying police will take punitive measures against such parents.
Held under the theme of ‘Wajibika, Tokomeza Ukatili na Mauaji Dhidi ya Wanawake na Watoto’ the event attracted different GBV activists from Chamwino Districts as well as Singida Region.
