Child abuse remains rampant in Isles

ZANZIBAR: CHILDREN have continued to bear the brunt of violence and gender-based abuse in Zanzibar, with a report released in July showing that 118 of the 138 victims reported during the month were children, equivalent to 85.5 per cent.

According to genderbased violence statistics for July 2026 released by the Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS), 138 cases were reported during the month, representing a 3.5 per cent decline from the 143 cases recorded in June.

Presenting the statistics, Ahmad Hassan Suleiman, a statistician from the Gender and Labour Statistics Division, said children accounted for 118 victims, followed by 19 women and one man.

Of the children affected, 95 were girls and 23 were boys. “Of the 138 victims, 118, equivalent to 85.5 per cent, were children, followed by 19 women, equivalent to 13.8 per cent, and one man, equivalent to 0.7 per cent,” he said.

Despite the month-onmonth decline, the statistics showed that reported cases increased by 29 per cent compared with July 2025, when 107 cases were recorded.

Rape was among the most frequently reported offences, accounting for 62 cases, or 44.9 per cent of all reported incidents.

Ahmad said other reported offences included defilement or sexual abuse, with 18 cases (13.0 per cent); unnatural offences, 11 cases (8.0 per cent); abduction, 17 cases (12.3 per cent); use of abusive language, nine cases (6.5 per cent); and indecent assault or defamation, 17 cases (12.3 per cent).

There was also one murder case and one child abduction case, each accounting for 0.7 per cent of the total, while two cases involved giving or receiving pregnancy.

Of the 62 rape cases reported, four, equivalent to 6.5 per cent, involved women, while 58, or 93.5 per cent, involved girls.

Western ‘A’ District recorded the highest number of gender-based violence cases during the month, with 32 incidents, followed by Urban and Western ‘B’ districts, which each recorded 24 cases.

Southern and Mkoani districts recorded the lowest numbers, with four cases each. Western ‘A’ also recorded the highest number of rape cases, with 17 incidents, representing 27.4 per cent of the 62 rape cases reported across Zanzibar in July.

The statistics further showed that intimate partners were linked to 55 cases, unknown persons to 44 cases, neighbours to 30 cases and other people to nine cases.

Night-time was among the periods when most incidents were reported to have occurred, with 52 cases taking place between midnight and 3am.

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Regarding action taken on the reported cases, Ahmad said 117 cases, equivalent to 84.8 per cent, were still under police investigation.

Another 17 cases, or 12.3 per cent, had been referred to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, while four cases, representing 2.9 per cent, had been closed by police.

He added that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions received 67 case files involving sexual offences. Of these, 26 were approved for prosecution in court, two were recommended for closure, 23 were returned to police for further investigation, while 16 had not yet been decided.

In the courts, 40 cases were filed at Zanzibar’s sexual offences courts. Of these, 38 cases, or 95 per cent, were still ongoing, while two cases, or five per cent, had resulted in convictions.

The statistics also showed that people with disabilities were among the victims, with three people with disabilities reported to have experienced violence and gender-based abuse during July.