As the world celebrates the rights of children on International Children’s Day, let us take a moment to reflect on how we protect children in Zimbabwe.
Opinion By UNICEF
There has been considerable coverage in the media recently, of cases of children who break the law, with some of these children committing acts of abuse against other children.
For those children who are the survivors of this abuse, we must continue to invest in the services that provide them with emergency medical care, support in their pursuit of justice through the courts and linking them with the counselling and personal support that they need to recover. When the offender and offendee come before the courts, our emotional response towards them is very different. Quite rightly, we look with sympathy on the survivor and outrage at the injustice of the crime committed against them.
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We direct anger at the alleged child offender and demand harsh and uncompromising punishment. But we forget that these children are, in many ways, very similar and they are both victims of a more collective failure by their community. The care and protection system is in need of urgent repair. We must work from the premise that no child is born bad, yet — as we have seen in these cases — some children commit horrendous acts of abuse against other children.
So if they are not naturally bad people, why do they hurt other children? The sad fact is that most children who perpetrate abuse have been abused themselves. All forms of child abuse are preventable. But if we are to break this cycle of violence, we need to recognise that our current system is, in many ways, broken.
For many children, the adults who are supposed to protect them from abuse either abuse the child themselves, or do not speak out when they see it.
By using beatings as a form of discipline and by allowing convicted adult perpetrators off with light sentences, we send children the message that abuse is not important or worthy of doing anything about. Currently, there are less than 100 social workers who can implement the statutory provisions in the Children’s Act that are designed to prevent and respond to child abuse, and less than 10 specialised clinics for child survivors of abuse. Children are not mini adults, even when they appear to behave like they are. And they are entitled to our protection. Instead, we allow for the prosecution of children as young as seven years of age and provide only a handful of government lawyers to provide free legal assistance.
If convicted, a child offender often receives punishments which date back to the colonial era such as “lashes” or a custodial sentence, and do nothing to address the societal failures that led to the behaviour in the first place. Of course, child survivors of abuse have the right to demand justice, even if the abuse is perpetrated by another child, but neither should have to do this on their own.
Current efforts to scale up the Victim Friendly System and the Pre-Trial Diversion Programme are commendable — and should be rapidly accelerated. We need more specialised courts, clinics, more dedicated children’s lawyers and social workers and greater support to Victim Friendly Units within the ZRP. There is also one simple and achievable change that could be made right now. Every child who comes before the court — for whatever reason — should have legal assistance and courts should demand this as a pre-requisite for hearing a case. At the same time, these children deserve a dedicated, qualified social worker.
Together, these professionals can ensure that the justice system is fair and effective.
