Child rights violations on the increase in Central Region
Centre for Youth and Children Affairs (Ceyca) has expressed worry over the increasing rate of child rights abuses in the country’s Central Region.
Speaking in an interview at the weekend, Ceyca acting executive director Desmond Mhango said his organisation is concerned about a great deal of negligence demonstrated by duty bearers regarding child rights and protection in the region.
According to Mhango, cases of child neglect and abandonment, child abduction, child labour, forced marriages and emotional and physical abuse are rampant and “it is worrisome that not so many parents take the initiative to report them”.
He said: “For instance, a child might be missing from home and parents remain silent about it, yet these days there are many cases regarding child trafficking. It is also unbelievable how some men use their wealth to destroy the future of other people’s daughters.”
Mhango, therefore, called on Parliament and other stakeholders to quickly review laws aimed at protecting children from physical and psychological harm.
“It’s high time our laws were in accordance with international and regional children’s rights instruments such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children (UN CRC), and the AfricanCharter on the Rights and Welfare of Children (ACRWC).
“Ward councillors in the region must pass by-laws prohibiting child marriages regardless of cultural, traditional and religious beliefs,” he said.
Mhango said Ceyca gets data on child violations through their Child Help Line 828 (CHL828) which receives complaints of child abuse in categories of defilement, child marriage/pregnancy, child labour, child trafficking, incest/sexual abuse, HIV and Aids and child discrimination.
By June this year, the Child Help Line recorded 684 child neglect and abandonment cases, 14 child abduction cases, 195 child labour cases, 53 forced marriage cases, 259 physical abuses and 25 sexual abuse cases.
