Development
PRO.SA’s experience in Zambia began in 2018 with the launch of “Stop The Violence” project, aimed at protecting women’s rights. After years of work in the field, alongside the operators of ULEMU – our partner organization – it has emerged how much the situation of the minors of Kanyama – a slum in the outskirts of the Zambian capital – is even more tragic than that of their mothers. In 2022, there were 481 child abuses, almost a third of the 1,726 victims who turned to the Anti-violence Unit situated in the main hospital.
Two thirds of the cases against minors are of a sexual nature and mostly happen within the household, at the hands of men but also women. The victims are primarily preadolescents and adolescents, both female – sometime already pregnant at 12 y. o. – and male, much more than the Anti-violence Unit reveals. As a matter of fact, if it is extremely difficult for a young girl to tell the staff about the abuse, reporting is even more humiliating for a young boy, grown up in a patriarchal society. Victims not infrequently have disabilities or mild cognitive delays that make them easy prey for ruthless people.
Child Abuse is not just a consequence of social and economic hardship or pedophilia, it also has a strong cultural connotation. Violence against minors is often tolerated: it is significant that the victim is not carried to the hospital to prove the abuse but to get tested for HIV, to exclude a possible pregnancy, and most of all to certify virginity.
PROJECT’S GOALS
Stop Child Abuse, financed thanks to fondazione PROSOLIDAR, aims at reinforcing psychological support for minors victims of abuse to help them recover from the experienced trauma, at preventing the repetition of the violence through the abuser removal in cooperation with the Police, at monitoring the belonging household and if necessary, place the victim in a shelter or in a boarding school for minors. A crucial aspect of Stop Child Abuse project is exactly the enrollment of the minor abused in schools where it is possible to live and attend the classes. Accessing education (which is not to be taken for granted), and benefiting from full broad and lodging within the school means regular alimentation and safety, far from the risk of abuse.
Thanks to fondazione PROSOLIDAR, it is now possible to rely on a highly competent psychotherapist, who offers quality psychological support. Our local partner, ULEMU, can identify victims, the nuclear family and the degree of risk of the repetition of the offence, and provide proper solutions in collaboration with Social Services, health authorities and the police force.
In nine months, more than 400 minors got assistance by ULEMU social workers, exceeding the initial goal of 400 in 12 months.
In 2023, 7 young girls were enrolled in a Boarding School and in January 2024, 30 other minors have been admitted to the same school selected by the project staff. Among these students, there are 5 young boys victims of abuse and 3 little girls under 10, coming from severe contexts of abuse and abandonment. Boarding School generally accept only adolescents.
An important progress concerning child protection in Zambia is the approval of the Children’s Code Act in August 2022. A measure compliant with the international standards. In order for its contents not to remain only on paper, they must be disseminated among the social workers dealing with Child Abuse cases.
In 2023 Ulemu organized a three-day training workshop about the new legislation for 30 members of the police force of Kanyama and another workshop for 20 healthcare workers is planned for 2024. At the same time, raising-awareness activities on children rights are carried out in Kanyama community. The social workers involved in this issue have already prepared the necessary stuff (posters, brochures in English and Italian) and took part into radio programs for widespread awareness.