Over 10,000 join campaign to prevent child sexual violence”
DAR ES SALAAM: A PROGRAMME seeking to prevent Child sexual violence has intensified its campaign to over 10,000 people between July 2022 and December 2024, the House was informed here yesterday.
According to the Deputy Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Mwanaid Ali Khamis, the government through the social media is conducting a special campaign dubbed ‘Hero of Social Welfare Development” (SMAUJATA)’ to encourage people to take part in efforts to end GBV.
She further said that it is a fact that access to the social media and internet has helped to bring development to the users including women and marginalised groups.
“Most women have managed to expand their businesses and improve their livelihoods while access to information and knowledge has also been made simple through information technology,” she said.
Ms Khamis however, said that, despite the opportunities arising from digital technology there are challenges related to the development including cybercrime, increasing incidents of GBV and online fraud.
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The Deputy Minister was responding to a main question posed by Special Seats MP, Tamina Abbas (CCM), who had wanted to know the results that the SMAUJATA campaign has so far brought since its establishment.
In response, the Deputy Minister told lawmakers that the campaign was inaugurated on June 16, 2022 and that so far, it had created awareness to 10,714 citizens on the Mainland Tanzania and about 191 others in the Isles.
“Also, this campaign has intensified morale to community members who have consistently been reporting incidences of gender-based violence to law enforcement agencies,” she said.
According to the Deputy Minister, so far, a total of 2,533 gender based incidents had been reported to the police and appropriate legal actions taken. She said that the campaign had adversely reduced gender violence in the community as well as covering shortage of Community Development officers.
