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Child protection in Tanzania: A dream or nightmare
Children and Youth Services Review 55 (2015) 10–17
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Children and Youth Services Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth
Child protection in Tanzania: A dream or nightmare Naftali Bernard Ng'ondi ⁎ Institute of Social Work, P.O. Box 3375, Dar-es-salaam 255 22, Tanzania
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 13 December 2014 Received in revised form 13 May 2015 Accepted 13 May 2015 Available online 21 May 2015 Keywords: Child protection Tanzania Violence Child abuse VAC study
a b s t r a c t Tanzania has been, especially in the past decade, crucially involved in the mission for child protection through various legislations and institutional arrangements, for instance the Law of the Child Act of 2009. This study examined how effective child protection measures have been in alleviating all forms of violations against children. The current study employed a cross sectional descriptive design to compare the prevalence of violations such as sexual, physical, and emotional violence experienced by the children between 2010/2011 and 2012/ 2013. Findings of the study show that violations against the children have increased almost 3 times between 2011/12 (n = 54) and 2012/2013 (n = 150). The majority of the victims of violence in both years were female children. In addition, most of the victims had both parents alive, but this increased from 56% in year 2011/2012 to 91% in 2012/2013. The study also identified poverty as a major contributing factor for violations in both years of the study (48% in 2011/12 and 36% in 2012/13). Most of the incidences of violations were a long term and an ongoing problem, and they frequently took place at home in both years. Despite the limitations, the findings suggest important implications for policy and practice. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction The child protection mission in Tanzania, as in many parts of the world, is ingrained in the dream of becoming a society that treats its children with a high level of respect for their dignity and worth for living, social justice, and freedom from harm and exploitation. Testimony to this commitment is evidenced by the conception and execution of various legislative, policy, and practice interventions. For instance, the Law of the Child Act of 2009 is inherently designed to punish and deter the public from even contemplating abusing children. From this point forward, this article uses the term “interventions” to refer to a combination of measures taken in the country for prevention and protection of child violence, unless otherwise indicated when a different meaning is sought. Despite child protection interventions, the recent nationally representative Violence Against Children study in Tanzania demonstrates that violence against children is still a serious problem with dire consequences to the nation's health and well-being (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a). For instance, the study revealed that nearly 3 in 10 females and approximately 1 in 7 males had experienced sexual violence prior to the age of 18. The study further indicates that physical violence rates are profoundly high with a prevalence of nearly three quarters of all children (72% of girls and 71% of boys). Acts of child violence appear to be outcomes of multiple interacting factors in various system levels. The ecological intervention model (Bronfenbrenner, 1999) posits that effective eradication efforts could ⁎ Tel.: +255 754 497122. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected].
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.05.012 0190-7409/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
be achieved if responses to violence against children adopted a holistic, integrated framework. That is, Tanzania might mitigate child violence when individual, familial, neighborhood, wider community, and national strategies are mobilized, combined, and balanced. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether child protection interventions have been successful in alleviating all forms of violence against children. Using district-level data from the Department of Social Welfare in Temeke, the current study sought to understand the socio-demographic characteristics of the abused children, the source and magnitude of various forms of violence against children, and provide a comparative analysis of the trend of violence against children across a 2-year period. Ultimately, this study sought to identify and bring to the attention of policy makers and professionals potential risk and protective factors with regard to developing evidence-based interventions that could effectively contribute to alleviating violence against children in Tanzania. 1.1. Background information This article adopts a definition of a child as defined in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and Ministry of Home Affairs (2013), as a “person below 18 years of age” as stated in the Law of the Child Act of 2009. This definition is also in line with most definitions in international human right instruments such as the Convention of the Right of the Child (CRC) of the 1989 article 1 (United Nations, 1989), which Tanzania ratified in 1991. According to the most recent 2012 population census in Tanzania, the child population between 0 and 17 years of age constitutes 50.1% of the total population (National Bureau of Statistics, 2013). Further
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disaggregation of the census data demonstrates that 43.9% of the country's population constitutes children in the 0–14 year age group. It is, therefore, clear from these statistics that children are an important segment of the Tanzanian populace (Ministry of Community Development, Women Affairs & Children, 1996), who are entitled to the rights of protection in order for them to grow well. While the child population basically halves the country population, a significant proportion of them have been reported to experience various forms of violence, which in most cases is perpetrated by adults (UNICEF, 2009; United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a). To address the child abuse problem in Tanzania, child protection involves a range of activities geared at prevention and response to violence, exploitation, and abuse (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, 2013). 1.2. Policy, legal, and institutional framework Similar to many other countries, child protection issues in Tanzania have gained much attention. Even though Tanzania's commitment to promote and protect the rights of children has a long history, national commitment to the dream of alleviating all forms of abuse and neglect among children has increased. Tanzania is one of the sub-Saharan African countries that joined global efforts for child protection. In 1990, Tanzania ratified the CRC of the United Nations General Assembly, and a decade later (2003) ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children (ACRWC). The national child protection commitment is further demonstrated by formulation of the Child Development Policy (Ministry of Community Development, Women's Affairs and Children, 1996). In 2009, Tanzania enacted the Law of the Child Act 2009. This act integrates child specific provisions from a range of national laws into one document, and accommodates fundamental rights of children as provided by international and regional conventions. The law further establishes a legislative and institutional framework for protection and care of children from abuse, violence, and neglect. Other legislative provisions for child protection include the Affiliation Ordinance, Children and Young Persons Act 1937, Children's Home Act 4—1968, Adoption of Children Act, Chapter 335, Law of Marriage Act No. 5 of 1971, Sexual Offences (Special Provisions) Act No. 4 of 1998, and National Education Act No. 25 of 1978 (cited in Mnzava, 2012). The National Costed Action Plan phase II of 2013–2017 provides for protection responses, such as alternative care for the victims, particularly when abuse happens in the family home (NCAP II) (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012). In 2011, Tanzania became the first African country to undertake a nationwide comprehensive study on all forms of violence (sexual, physical, and emotional) against both female and male children (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a). Most recently, a joint project aimed at alleviating violence against children has been put in place by the Government of Tanzania, UNICEF, Save the Children International (SCI), and Plan International (UNICEF, 2014). The joint project is reported to target Kisarawe, Kibaha, and Shinyanga rural districts on the mainland Tanzania and the West District of Zanzibar. The project also forms a response to the 2013–2016 National Plan of Action for Prevention and Response to Violence Against Children (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare & Ministry of Home Affairs, 2013). The plan is projected to expand child protection systems to 30 districts by 2016. Despite the existence of the aforementioned legislation, policies, and programs, the current study investigates whether Tanzania has been effectively intervening to resolve the child abuse problem. Resolving this problem would allow the country's dream of providing a safe home and community to all of its children to be realized. 1.3. Statement of the problem As indicated previously, many efforts in terms of legislation, policies, and institutional interventions have been undertaken in Tanzania to
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prevent child abuse and to intervene when it occurs. For instance, the 1998 Sexual Offences Special Provision Act in short SOSPA (United Republic of Tanzania, 1998), the Law of the Child Act in 2009, followed by policies and strategic initiatives in health, social welfare, policing, and other child committed sectors, presented an historic hallmark of a society beginning to become more responsible in treating children with proper and sufficient care and protection. For example, SOSPA provides stern punitive sentences (also adopted in the 2009 Law of the Child Act), including imprisonment for life, or in any case, imprisonment at least 30 years with corporal punishment for convicted offenders of sexual violence against children. One plausible explanation for the continuing sexual violence against children might lie in the entrenched beliefs that the perpetrators hold. These include the hard to resist superstitious expectations of gains in wealth and status. How one can gain wealth and status from sexual abuse with children is unclear; however, it is believed that the perpetrators are usually required by witchdoctors to sexually assault children as a ritual condition for making wealth generating magical charms (BBC News, 2008). Alternatively, practice wisdom suggests that perpetrators perceive that the institutional structures charged with the duty of bringing them to justice are porous in such a way that they will escape the law. Anecdotal and credible evidences to date continue to demonstrate that violence against children is still a pervasive social problem with potential serious health and socio-economic consequences (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare & Ministry of Home Affairs, 2013). Local media reports have consistently informed the public that abuse and exploitation of children are still deeply entrenched within in the country. For instance, “Nipashe” Newspaper (ISSN 0856-5414 No. 058055) of March 15 (2014), covered an attack of a two and one-half year-old child whose private parts were chopped off. The same local newspaper dated “Nipashe” News paper with ISSN 0856-5414 No. 058056 of Sunday March 16, 2014 (ISSN 0856-5414 No. 058056) reported serious incidences of male child sexual abuse among primary school students in the Kibaha District in the Coast Region that took place in sand quarries and isolated bush areas. Most perpetrators of this sexual abuse were fellow male primary school students at higher study levels than the victims, who primarily came from 3rd and 4th grades. One 3rd grade teacher reported that in his class of 98 students, half of them were spending most of their day time in the sand quarries and bushes and thus not attending classes as required. Moreover, the The Voice of America (VOA & http://www.voanews. com/content/attacks-on-albinos-surge-in-tanzania/1619907.html accessed March 14, 2014) covered attacks on children with albinism (children born without skin pigmentation) in the country. The VOA reported that in the Tabora central region of Tanzania, a group of men mutilated the arm of a 7-year-old boy with albinism, ultimately killing him and his 95-year-old grandfather who fought for his grandson's life. Similar incidences of violence against children with albinism were reported on February 5, in the same year (2014), in the northern Simiyu region, where another 7-monthold boy with albinism was attacked in his home by armed men. The boy survived because villagers learned of the attack early and was able to protect him. In the same region only four days later, a group of men chopped off the arm of another 10-year-old boy with albinism as he was headed home from school. Given such atrocities, it is unclear why coverage of attacks on children with albinism has found no entrance into major recent studies on violence against children. A systematic surveillance of the country's newspapers in March 2014 also demonstrates that on most days of a month, there is media coverage in at least one Tanzanian newspaper on child sexual abuse acts that are attributed to various reasons. Based on these reports, there appears to be either a disconnect between legal enforcement and an assumed informed knowledge of the community, particularly potential perpetrators, or these are insufficient interventions to prevent offensive behaviors to children.
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1.4. Rationale of this study The United Nations Secretary General (2006) has declared that violence against children is both a global human rights and public health issue, with substantial negative impact on children's overall development. Similarly, the scientific community has consistently argued that violence against children in all forms (physical, sexual, and emotional) can result in serious health, emotional, and social consequences to the victims, their families, and the wider community (UNICEF, 2006; UNSG, 2006). Likewise, the United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF study (2011a) observed that violence against children in Tanzania is a major threat to national development, our work to achieve the vision on poverty alleviation, and reaching the Millennium Development Goals. The report cautioned that Tanzania could not achieve the goal of attaining quality primary and secondary education unless children are safe in school. The report further argues that sexual violence, if not halted, will continue to fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS. In addition, all forms of violence against children are associated with increasing occurrence and costs of mental and physical health problems among the victims. Undertaking the current study was also fueled by the need to contribute towards our understanding of the demographic, social, and institutional dimensions of violence against children (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011b). The World Health Organization (WHO) also adds to concerns about the consequences of child violence. Such violence is associated with short- and long-term negative consequences, first to the victims themselves, and second to their families and communities, and thus is considered a “critical societal concern” (World Health Organization & the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect, 2006). The consequences in terms of risk factors and risk-taking behaviors include perpetration of violence, depression, smoking, obesity, high-risk sexual behaviors, unintended pregnancy, and alcohol and drug use later in life. At extreme levels, WHO concludes that the risk factors and behaviors originating from violence in childhood could lead to potential causes of death, disease, and disability, such as heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, and suicide. Violence to children threatens realization of the otherwise carefully conceived child protection objectives. The Convention on the Right of the Child states that all children have the right to be protected against all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse, including sexual abuse and sexual exploitation (United Nations, 1989). The current study therefore joins the global and national community in the fight against violence against children by providing updated and relatively reliable data to inform evidence driven interventions for child protection. Previous studies in Tanzania, such as the Violence Against Children (VAC) study (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a), gathered data through interviewing a sample of children and young adults in the country. The study findings, which involved 13–24 year-old respondents, represent the most recent estimates of child maltreatment in Tanzania. For ethical considerations, the study did not involve children under the age of 13, and focused on older respondents. Therefore, the study did not capture the experiences of younger children. The study also reported that research on children in Tanzania asking questions about their sexual activity were conducted earlier, such as the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (Nyandindi, 2008). However, that precedence alone may not provide sufficient justification for conducting research on issues that could potentially expose the children to serious emotional and social risks beyond those experienced in normal life. The VAC study also acknowledged that it did not sample respondents over 24 years of age, to reduce the recall bias inherent in the interviews. For the same argument, it can be reasonable to suppose that the 13–24 year respondents could have difficulties accurately recalling events that occurred in their early childhoods. While children have the right to freely express their views (United Nations: Human Rights, 1989), they may not have developed a mature understanding to categorize certain
acts as violence. In addition, respondents may not want to talk about their experiences due to common taboos around sexuality and the emotional tension of the topic (Kijo-Bisimba, 2012). Findings from interviews, such as those of the Violence Against Children study are important, but may not be sufficient to accurately measure child maltreatment. Given the previously discussed ethical and interview barriers, the current study was designed to gather data on violence against children reported at the district level. The study collected the carefully reported and recorded data over a two-year period from Tanzania's Child Protection Management Information System (CPMIS). Despite the fact that the current study likely missed some unreported cases of violence due to fear of retaliation in reporting offenders of child abuse, using data from the CPMIS contributes to an improved method in measuring child maltreatment in the country. 1.5. Theoretical framework This study employed the ecological theoretical framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994; Bronfenbrenner, 1999) to suggest effective child protection interventions towards realizing the dream to keep children safe from violence. Applying Bronfenbrenner (1999), ecological theory, it can be argued that child protection is a dynamic and reciprocal process of interactions between children at risk of violence and the environment. The environment includes other individuals living close to the children, the immediate family, community values, beliefs, and factors that fuel violence, and larger societal legislative and policy interventions. Bronfenbrenner's perspective therefore considers the success of child protection as a product of the balanced and successful interactions between the children potentially at risk of violence, abuse, or exploitation and the various systems in the environment. The ecological theory posits that for the child protection dream to be realized, a holistic functioning of interventions in the five different ecological levels – the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem – must be used (Bronfenbrenner, 1999). Bronfenbrenner's (1994) concept of ecological transition is important in analyzing the reasons for continuing incidences of violence against the children in the country. The microsystem level structure in this study refers to the immediate environments, settings in which the child interacts with potential perpetrators or protectors such as family members, peers, and neighbors. A mesosystem constitutes the interactions between two or more immediate environments in which the child spends a significant amount of time in his/her life. A relevant example in this case is the interactions between a child's home and school experiences. Already revealed in the current study is the fact that incidences of child sexual abuse can be committed by either fellow children or adults in areas close to schools. Legislation, policies, and institutional programs for child protection and larger cultural values and beliefs fall into the macrosystem level. The chronosystem structure presents the level of analysis that calls for understanding the interactions between two or more immediate environments and a third dimension of time and space. This level suggests analyses of the dynamics of knowledge, practices, and time as critical attributes to consider over the life course and across socio-historical circumstances of violation of children rights. This study therefore assumes that for the child protection agenda to be realized, well organized interventions from different actors at various ecological levels that involve children are essential. 2. Material and methods 2.1. Study design The main goal of this study was to determine the current state of violence against children after the enactment of the 2009 Law of the Child Act and child protection responses in terms of policy and
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institutional activities. The study explored whether child protection interventions in Tanzania have yielded expected outcomes in terms of decreasing incidences of all forms of violence against children between two time periods after the enactment of the 2009 law. Therefore, the current study employed a cross sectional descriptive quantitative design. It utilized district level data from the Temeke Department of Social Welfare office to compare the prevalence of sexual, physical, and emotional violence experienced by the children between 2010/2011 and 2012/2013. The Temeke district is one of the three administrative districts (a county district in a federal state as in the U.S.) found in the region of Dar-es-salaam in Tanzania. Tanzania is located in the East African region along the coast of the Indian Ocean. According to the last Population and Housing Census in 2012, there were 44,928,923 persons in the whole country (United Republic of Tanzania, 2013). Dar-es-salaam has 4.36 million persons, equivalent to approximately 10% of the country's total population. The Temeke district has 1,368,881 persons, accounting for about 31% of the region's population. The current study chose Temeke district as it was one of the only three districts in the country that initially implemented the child protection project that was jointly designed by the Department of Social Welfare and UNICEF in 2011 (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, 2013). The other two project districts were the Magu and Hai districts found in Mwanza and Kilimanjaro regions with 299,759 and 210,533 persons respectively. The Magu and Hai districts basically represent populations that significantly characterize a rural community. Temeke, like the other two districts (Magu and Hai), operate a modern, reliable data base for collecting and keeping data on incidences of violence against children. Unlike the other two districts, Temeke offers a study population that captures both urban and semi-urban/rural dimensions of violence committed against children. Similar to the 2009 Tanzania Violence Against Children study, the current study primarily sought to assess the magnitude of all forms of violence against children. The study also collected data regarding the context in which acts of violence occurred, profiles of the victims and perpetrators, and relationships between the victims and perpetrators. However, the main difference is that while the Violence Against Children study data came from a national sample of respondents collected by trained interviewers, data for the current study were collected by qualified child protection service providers as reported by the child victims and/or their parents, relatives, friends or the child protection officials. In addition, most incidences were reported within a week, not requiring matured memory to recall. This methodological choice is consistent with a paradigm focus on child research methods (Kijo-Bisimba, 2012) that emphasize the need to collect data from the children themselves as they are “capable of reporting their own experiences.”
2.2. Type of data The Department of Social Welfare in collaboration with UNICEF — Tanzania, recognizes that quality Child Protection Services highly depend on effective systematic collection, organization, and storage of data and information. A modern computerized encrypted and password design for systematic collection of data and creation of a database forms the CPMIS (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, 2013). In addition to technological advancement in the process of collecting and storing data, the actual reported cases of violence against children are collected and documented by District Social Welfare Officers and other partners involved in case management. The data collectors were also thoroughly trained in research methods and ethical considerations (such as confidentiality and informed consent) that involve vulnerable children. The data that this study gathered present the most recent technologically generated data on violence against children in Tanzania.
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2.3. Data analysis The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20 was used to analyze the data. This study presents frequency distributions on socio-demographic characteristics of the abused children, parental circumstances and care arrangements, and profile of violence incidents/violations. The data generated from the CPMIS in Temeke District and used in this study covered the period between 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. The descriptive data are presented in such a way that a comparative analysis of violence against children between Time 1 and Time 2 can be determined, which is the main objective of this analysis. 2.4. Addressing human subjects This study did not identify the victims of child abuse and violence in the data that were accessed. The researcher obtained written permission from the Department of Social Welfare to access the relevant agency information about the abused children. The department strongly adheres to maintaining ethical responsibilities with regard to confidentiality surrounding the information given by the children. Before accessing the data, the researcher issued to the department a written guarantee to strictly use the data for publication in professional journals and in conferences where, in all circumstances, no child will be identified. Providing the researcher with the agency data from the four districts did not place any child whose information was provided at any risks beyond those encountered in everyday life. The researcher also informed the department that the children were not expected to personally benefit directly from this research. However, the results of the research were expected to assist the department and other partners involved in the child care system to improve services to abused children and their families. 3. Results This section presents descriptive statistics on incidences of violence and/or neglect of children between 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. Children's socio-demographics and the context of the violence and/or neglect are presented first. This is followed by a profile of the violations and incidences of violence. 3.1. Children socio-demographics and context of violence As demonstrated in Table 1, the number of children experiencing violence or neglect actually increased almost 3 times between 2011/2012 (n = 54) and 2012/2013 (n = 150), suggesting either an increase in child violations/violence or in reporting of such treatment. Although the majority of the victims of child maltreatment in both years were female, this percentage declined from 61% in 2011/2012 to 53% in 2012/2013. The findings of the study also show that in both time periods, a substantial proportion of the children were not in school at the time of violation, and there was an increase in the percentage of these children between the two time periods (31% in 2011/2012; 41% in 2012/2013). Furthermore, in both time periods, the majority of the victims had both parents alive, and there was a large increase in the percentage of the victims in this category, from 56% in 2011/2012 to 91% in 2012/2013. It can also be noted that there was a sizeable cumulative proportion of 33% of the victims in the year 2011/2012 who were orphans, which substantially decreased to a low of 3% during the next time period. Further disaggregation of the orphans' variable in 2011/ 2012 provides double orphans (7%), paternal orphans (17%), and maternal orphans (9%). For the care arrangement variable (primary care givers), the highest proportion (26%) of the victims in 2011/2012 lived in children's homes while in 2012/2013 most of the victims came from families with both living parents.
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Table 1 Children socio-demographic circumstances. Variable
Table 2 Profile of violation/incidences of violence.
Year
Variable
2011/2012
2012/2013
No.
Percent
No.
Percent
21 33 54
39 61
71 79 150
47 53
Schooling status (at time of violation) In school 37 Not in school 17 Total 54
69 31
89 61 150
59 41
Parental circumstances (status) Both parents alive Parents missing Double orphans Paternal orphan Maternal orphan Other/unknown/unrecorded Total
56 7 7 17 9 4
136 7 2 1 1 3 150
91 5 1 1 1 2
Care arrangements (primary caregivers) Both parents 9 Mother only 8 Father only 7 Other family member 10 Informal guardian 1 Children's home 14 Other/unknown/unrecorded 5 Total 54
17 15 13 19 2 26 9
55 44 15 20 5 1 10 150
37 29 10 13 3 1 7
Contributory factors Poverty Divorce of parents Separation of parents Alcohol misuse Traditional/cultural norms Family pressures Death of parent(s) Polygamy/ step parents Misuse of electronic media Others Unknown/not recorded Total counts
48 4 15 6 2 6 13 0 0 37 11
54 40 36 12 9 8 6 10 7 22 14 230
36 27 24 8 6 5 4 7 5 15 9
Sex Male Female Total
30 4 4 9 5 2 54
26 2 8 3 1 3 7 0 0 20 6 76
Source: Social Welfare Department, 2013.
Year 2011/2012
2012/2013
No.
Percent
No.
Percent
When the incident took place Specific day Long term/on-going problem Unknown/unrecorded Total
26 25 3 54
48 46 6
40 110 0 150
27 73 0
Who reported violation/incidence Parent/carer Local police post/station Village/child protection officials Child NGO/FBO/CBO Others Total
2 24 3 2 14 9 54
4 44 6 4 26 17
78 11 28 8 0 25 150
52 7 19 5 0 17
18
33
18 4 4 7 3 54
33 7 7 13 5
92 21 9 3 0 10 15 150
61 14 6 2 0 7 10
29 33 4 7 33 1 188
54 61 7 13 61 2
71 92 9 1 13 2 107
47 61 6 1 9 1
1 2 12 0 8 0 10 1 15
2 4 22 0 15 0 19 2 28
10 13 34 3 20 3 49 9 25
7 9 23 2 13 3 33 6 18
Where the incidence took place Home Public transport Children home Walking locally School/training college Other places Unknown/unrecorded Total Types of incidence/violation Violence Neglect and denial of service Child labor Trafficking Without primary caregiver Other violation Total responses Types of violence Physical violence Corporal punishment Rape Attempted rape Sexual abuse Incest Psychological violence Sexual exploitation Others Source: Social Welfare Department, 2013.
With regard to the contributing factors to incidences of violations/ violence against the children, multiple factors appear to place children at such risk. For instance, poverty appears on top of the list in both years, and this percentage declined in the second year (48% in 2011/ 12; 36% in 2012/13). The combination of divorce (27%) and separation (24%) of parents constituted the majority of the reasons that influenced incidences of violence against the children in 2012/13. As noted in Table 1, there was more than twice (37%) the number of child maltreatment victims in 2011/12 compared with the 15% in 2012/13 whose violence was attributed to “others,” reasons, such as drug abuse, children left alone without adult supervision, poor socialization, and idle time in schools. 3.2. Profile of the violations/incidences The levels of violence against the children have continued to be high. The findings of the study presented in Table 2 also indicate that in both years most of the incidences of violations were a long-term and an ongoing problem, and even increased in the second year from 46% in 2011/12 to 73% in 2012/2013. In terms of who reported the incidence of violations to the child protection authorities, the study indicated that in 2012/13 parents/caregivers constituted the majority (52%: n = 78) of the individuals/institutions that reported violation to DCPT, compared to only 4% (n = 2) in 2011/12. In both years, the highest
proportion of the cases of violence against the children took place in the child's family home and in the “Children's Home” by 33%. The incidents that occurred in the child's family home increased almost two times from 33% in 2011/2012 to 61% in 2012/2013. In 2011/2012 the study findings determined that the child's family home was the place where most incidences (33%) of violations took place, and in 2012/2013 the rate of such incidences decreased to 6%. The study also reveals that 7% of incidences took place in schools or training colleges in 2011/2012, while no children suffered such treatment in the following year. Public transportation, however, appears to place children at risk (14%) for violations only in 2012/2013. This possibly indicates the increase of severity of the incidences that have come out from the hiding into the public places. The current study found that the most common type of violence/violation in both years was child neglect and denial of services, and this percentage was identical (61%) in both years. There were also 61% of incidences that occurred in connection with the absence of a primary caregiver in the first year, which subsequently declined to 9%. Overall, incidences that involved sexual violence (rape, attempted rape, sexual abuse, incest, sexual exploitation when combined together) were also quite high in both years, and actually increased from 39% in 2011/ 2012 to 47% in 2012/2013.
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Further analysis of the types of violence produces somewhat mixed results. For instance in 2012/2013, incidences of psychological violence increased from 19% in 2011/2012 to 33% in 2011/2012, but rape incidences in both years were similar at 22%. Percentages of sexual abuse incidences were also slightly similar (15% in 2011/2012; 13% in 2012/ 2013), but lower in the second year. When incidences of rape and sexual abuse are combined, the findings demonstrate that in both study years, more than 1/3 of the reported types of violence involved child sexual violence. Also notably in Table 2, out of the 9 types of violence, 7 percentages (in physical violence, corporal punishment, rape, attempted rape, incest, psychological violence, and sexual exploitation) are higher in the second time period, even though some of these differences are not large. 4. Discussion and conclusions 4.1. The study findings This study was conceived out of the desire to estimate how close the child protection interventions that Tanzania has put into place have resulted in the dream of alleviating all forms of violence against children in the country. At the current time, Tanzania is already five years down the lane following the passage of the critical legislative instrument that is the Law of The Child Act of 2009. We would expect if Tanzania were making good progress towards its goal, that the results would demonstrate a lower number of child violations and lower percentages in the various categories examined in this article. However, many times this was not the case. This study has established that incidences of violations against the children have been about 3 times higher in the year 2012/2013 than in 2011/2012 year. Although the data may suggest improvement in the reporting system, this is a clear demonstration of increasing prevalence in child violations/violence. Insights from Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory suggests that the institutional and child care arrangements from the level of the family to the national policy and legal structures are not yet effective in deterring the perpetrators from violating the protection rights of the children. While there were multiple factors found as possible contributors to the incidences of violations/violence against children, poverty topped the list (36%), followed by divorce (27%) and separation (24%) of parents in 2012/2013 year. Thus, it is likely that poverty and family instability are predisposing environments for violence against children. The absence or ineffectiveness of a child friendly response system (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012), suggests that tapping on the children's families' resilience could offer and promote healthy family functioning capabilities for child protection (Walsh, 2003). Promoting families' resilience, however, need not be conceived as a spontaneous process, but rather one that also requires influencing policy institutional regulation in protecting the vulnerable children (Mamdani, Rajani, Leach, Tumbo-Masabo, & Omondi, 2009). The study also demonstrates that about 90% of the victims in 2012/ 2013 had both parents alive compared to about 50% in the year 2011/ 2012. This implies that more recently most of the victims came from families having both parents alive. About a third cumulative proportion of the victims in the year 2011/2012 were orphans. We understand that orphans in Tanzania experiences multiple vulnerabilities, such as lacking basic life necessities and psychosocial problems. The data indicate that the orphans who lost their fathers constituted the largest proportion of the orphans who experienced violence. This suggests that practitioners would need to pay closer attention in protecting these children. Combined results demonstrate that in both study years, more than 1/3 of the reported cases of violence involved sexual violence to the children. These data replicate the results of the national qualitative Violence Against Children study conducted in 2009 (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a). Having consistent high proportions of acts of child sexual abuse reported over a 5-year period is evidence that the celebrated legislative, policy, and program
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interventions for child protection have so far not lived up to the earlier conceived expectations. Other literature (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012) is also very clear that the capacity of the local government structures is not sufficient to facilitate handling of child maltreatment. The literature indicates that local structures such as village governments and the established MVCCs lack technical and institutional capacity and sufficient skills to effectively handle cases of violence against children. The literature further highlights that such institutions are not well connected to the resourceful Social Welfare Department. The latter could be useful for further technical and other support in the best interests of the child. In addition, some critical cases reported to the police, end up being poorly handled in such a way that they get treated through tough police procedures that barely utilizes children friendly skills to protect their rights. The study also reveals the surprising finding whereby in 2012/13 parents/caregivers constituted the majority (52%: n = 78) of the individuals/institutions that reported violation to DCPT, compared to only 4% (n = 2) in 2011/12. Combined results of late reported cases, that is, over a week to over three months, had improved from 26% in 2011/2012 to 9% in 2012/2013. While these data demonstrate increasing early intervention, reporting alone has proven to be inadequate in the overall objective of seeing justice being served to the abused children and the perpetrators. While the current study recognizes the importance of the increase in reporting incidences of violence against children, it does so with a special caution that this is just the beginning of a long road to justice for abused children. Certainly, reporting of such incidences could even be 100% of the incidences that occurred; but this alone, is not good enough when such reported cases are dropped by the police for lack of sufficient evidence (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012). The study findings also highlight that highest proportion (33%) of cases took place at the child's family home and in “children's homes”. Consistent with the findings from the United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF study (2011a), the results indicate that there are a substantial proportion of perpetrators who live very close to the children. This level of vicinity where children get abused correlates with Bronfenbrenner's first ecological environmental structure called the micro-system. If violent incidences happen in places that children believe are safe and conducive for their well-being, this implies that it could be difficult to address post traumatic effects among the victims unless alternative care (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012) such as adoption or foster family arrangements are organized. If the homes in which children reside are unable to protect children, alternative care and support programs or foster care arrangements may reasonably seem appealing. For instance, a qualitative descriptive study (Mwaipopo, 2005) provided tentative positive outcomes of an alternative foster parenting arrangement in improving the psychosocial well-being of vulnerable children. In addition, psychosocial support programs involving the parents seem to be associated with fewer incidences of child abuse (Nyangara, Thurman, Hutchinson, & Obiero, 2009). However, larger empirical practice evidence (Berger, Bruch, James, Johnson, & Rubin, 2009) has suggested that children at imminent risk for abuse and neglect have a high propensity to suffer increased behavioral problems in programs taking place outside their families. Therefore, our understanding and choices on the appropriateness of either home or out-of-home placements need to be sufficiently informed by evidence-based child protection practices, and if not sufficiently available, by the most promising practices. 4.2. Conclusions The data indicate that in a period of two years, violence against children does not show any indication of subsiding, but rather increasing, thus, replicating the 2011 Violence Against Children findings. Statistics from the CPMIS database in the Temeke district demonstrate an increase of the incidences of violence against children despite the
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existence of harsh punitive legislative interventions. There currently exist tough child protection legislation and response programs that are harmonized into The Law of the Child Act No. 21—2009. If the law provides for life imprisonment, and we still report a rate of 1/3 sexual abuse of the violence against children, we have a strong case to mandate asking a critical question on whether we really need to be optimistic with stern responsive legislations. Rational wisdom informed by these statistics compels coming to the conclusion that there is a need to think of alternatives that would keep children away from the risk of abuse or neglect. Family, neighborhood and community involvement may have improved in terms of exposing the violations to local authorities, which is basically a treatment/response approach after offenses have been committed to the children. This approach must not be the first line of the nation's programs. Individuals, particularly adult perpetrators, family, and local institutions and cultural communities must be transformed from their abuse and destructive beliefs and practices against children in order to prevent violence from occurring. The dream of all good citizens of the country to see a protection of children from all sorts of violence, at least in our life time, remains a distant reality if little investment in prevention measures continues. The current study finds it appropriate to conclude with an echoed message in 2002 that: “… no violence against children is justifiable; all violence against children is preventable. There should be no more excuses. Member States must act now with urgency to fulfill their human rights obligations and other commitments to ensure protection from all forms of violence. While legal obligations lie with States, all sectors of society, all individuals, share the responsibility of condemning and preventing violence against children and responding to child victims. None of us can look children in the eye if we continue to approve or condone any form of violence against them.” [(Krug, Dahlberg, Mercy, Zwi, & Lozano, 2002)] While there is no attempt in the current study in any way to disregard responsive measures for child protection, the core message remains that an integrative and ecological (Bronfenbrenner, 1999) well rounded prevention is the key to the dream of keeping the children safe from violence.
4.3. Study limitations This study has several limitations. The study was able to access and analyze systematically collected data (not as recalled and recounted by sampled interviewees) reserved in the high quality CPMIS. However, because the data came from one district project area, the findings of the study cannot be generalized to other abused/neglected children in Tanzania. Although, the study portrayed, for instance, the increase in reporting of violations, it lacks a contextual nuanced understanding to explain the increase. Future research could be conducted to understand the relationship between children's socio-demographic characteristics and the profile of violence experienced.
4.4. Policy and practice implications Despite the above limitations, the study findings suggest important implications for addressing the risk factors and identifying protective structures. First, the 2-year study findings demonstrate a consistent trend of increase of violence incidences against children. This trend happens in the midst of a well elaborated legislative and institutional framework (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012) to halt abuse of children. Policy makers need to re-evaluate how grass root activities could be utilized to identify and target preventing abuses
before they happen at the family, neighborhood, and local community levels. Second, this study demonstrates that most incidences of violence occurred in places that children defined as their homes. An important practical implication to the response agency and social work professionals who serve the children, calls for understanding and utilization of a five tier ecological (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994; Bronfenbrenner, 1999) framework that seeks to understand and transform knowledge, attitudes, and practices of every citizen from individual, family, groups, and community levels. In the context of child protection, the ecological approach systematically considers the importance of the individual and environmental factors and their complex interactions in understanding the incidences of violations, response structures, and prevention systems. Third, the majority of the sexual abuse victims are female children, which presents another important gender dimension. A United Nations study (UNGAS, 2009) revealed that girls who are exposed to violence are less likely to complete their education. Both global and national initiatives are also seriously committed to condemning and eradicating all forms of abuse of female children. An important refinement in identification, assessment, and protection procedures calls for response social workers, families, and the larger community to pay special attention to female children. Fourth, a substantial number of incidences of violence happened to children who were attending primary schools at the time of violation. Some incidences of abuse also occurred in schools. An important practice implication calls for school based cognitive behavioral programs (Kendall, 2000) that first seek to raise awareness and knowledge. The mind sets' altering programs also are potentially capable of systematically desensitizing the children from thinking and engaging in the acts of sexual abuse. In addition, school social workers in collaboration with school authorities need to assess and design early interventions, including kids clubs that would keep the school children particularly boys away from behavioral misconduct including sexual interactions. The study findings overall suggest that the “formal and informal mechanisms” (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012; pg 27) have been less effective in preventing (let alone responding to) abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children. Therefore it calls for ecologically informed family and community based interventions. That is, policies that call for preventive measures must take precedence over legislation that fundamentally targets the perpetrators of violations of children's rights in a remedial way. The truth and value of this recommendation also finds support in the scientifically sound “systems approach” model that has found advocacy and support in the current National Guidelines for Establishing a Child Protection System in Tanzania (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, 2013). The department posits that: “… a systems approach creates an integrated, holistic approach to child protection and child well-being, by having a linked and coherent set of structures, functions and capacities to meet the goal of child protection. A system integrates the actions of families (and children themselves), communities, formal and informal laws and practices, state and non-state of actors across all sectors, to work together to protect children. It looks at all the actions needed to protect children along a continuum, from promotion of a safe environment for the child and prevention through to response and restorative services for children at risk of, or experiencing violence, neglect, exploitation and abuse” (p. 7). Despite the fact that the current research has been very clear about the child protection limitations, as a country we still have to keep the dream and hopes as impetus to build a society that would ultimately choose and guarantee the safety of its children.
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References “Nipashe” Newspaper with ISSN 0856-5414 no. 058055 of Saturday March 15, 2014. “Nipashe” Newspaper with ISSN 0856-5414 No. 058056 of Sunday March 16, 2014. BBC News (27 July 2008). “Tanzania albinos targeted again” (27 July 2008). Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7527729.stm. [accessed 15.07. 2014]. Berger, L.M., Bruch, S.K., James, S., Johnson, E.I., & Rubin, D. (2009). Estimating the impact of out-of-home placement on child well-being: Approaching the problem of selection bias. Child Development, 80, 1856–1876. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513–531. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1999). Environments in developmental perspective: Theoretical and operational models. In S.L. Friedman, & T.D. Wachs (Eds.), Measuring environment across the life span: Emerging methods and concepts (pp. 3–28). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S.J. (1994). Nature–nurture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: A bioecological model. Psychological Review, 101, 568–586. Kendall, P.C. (2000). Child and adolescent therapy: Cognitive–behavioural procedures. New York: The Guildford Press. Kijo-Bisimba, H. (2012). A draft report for REPOA. Researching with children: Voices of orphaned children heading households in Tanzania http://www.repoa.or.tz/documents_storage/SP1-1.pdf, Accessed on 09/03/2015. Krug, E.G., Dahlberg, L.L., Mercy, J.A., Zwi, A.B., & Lozano, R. (Eds.). (2002). World report on violence and health. World Health Organization: Geneva. Mamdani, M., Rajani, R., Leach, V., Tumbo-Masabo, Z., & Omondi, F. (2009). Influencing policy for children in Tanzania: Lessons from education, legislation and social protection, special paper 09.30. Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania: Research on Poverty Alleviation. Ministry of Community Development, Women Affairs and Children (1996). Child development policy. Government Printer: Dar es Salaam. Ministry of Health and Social Welfare & Ministry of Home Affairs (2013). National plan of action for prevention and response to violence against children for 2013– 2016, Dar-es-salaam. Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (2013). National guidelines for establishing a child protection system in Tanzania, Dar-es-salaam. Mnzava, M. (2012). Child protection and child social protection: Institutional issues and practice in the Tanzanian experience. A draft report presented at REPOA's 17th Annual Research Workshop held at the White Sands Hotel, March 28–29, 2012. Dar es Salaam: Research for Poverty Alleviation. Mwaipopo, R. (2005). Evaluation of Tahea supported “Mama Mkubwa” initiative in Makete District, Iringa Region. Dar es salaam, Tanzania: UNICEF. National Bureau of Statistics (2013). “Population distribution by age and sex”. Summary results by age and sex of Tanzania 2012 census as presented. The 2012 population and housing census, book II. Dar es Salaam: National Bureau of Statistics Tanzania.
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Nyandindi, U. (2008). Tanzania global school-based student health survey report. Available at http://www.who.int/chp/gshs/TANZANIA_GSHS_FINAL_REPORT_2008.pdf ([accessed 14 April 2015]) Nyangara, F., Thurman, T.R., Hutchinson, P., & Obiero, W. (2009). An evaluation: Effects of programs supporting orphans and vulnerable children: Key findings, emerging issues, and future directions from evaluations of four projects in Kenya and Tanzania. Washington DC: MEASURE Evaluation. The Voice of America (VOA, http://www.voanews.com/content/attacks-on-albinossurge-in-tanzania/1619907.html accessed March 14, 2014). UNICEF (2009). Violence against Children in Tanzania: Findings from a national survey, 2009. Summary report on the prevalence of sexual, physical and emotional violence, context of sexual violence, and health and behavioural consequences of violence experienced in childhood. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: UNICEF Tanzania, Division of Violence Prevention. UNICEF (2006). Child protection information sheet. UNICEF: The United Nations Children's Fund New York. UNICEF (2014). UNICEF, EU, Save the Children and Plan International join forces with Tanzania to end violence against children. A report article from www.unicef.org/ tanzania/7162_end-violence.html retrieved on April 10, 2014 United Nations Secretary General (2006). World report on violence against children, 2006. New York: United Nations. United Nations (1989). Convention on the rights of the child. available at http:// swiged76.hcrnet.ch/refworld/docid/3ae6b38f0.html ([accessed 17 March 2014]) United Nations: Human Rights (1989). Convention on the rights of the child. http://www. ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/crc.pdf (Accessed on 17/04/2015) United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF (2011a). Violence against children in Tanzania: Findings from a national survey 2009. Dar es Salaam: Multi Sector Task Force on Violence Against Children Secretariat: UNICEF Tanzania. United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF (2011b). The multi-sector task force: A national response to violence against children. Dar es Salaam: Multi Sector Task Force on Violence Against Children Secretariat: UNICEF Tanzania. United Republic of Tanzania (1998). Sexual offences special provisions act, 1998. Dar es salaam. Tanzania: The Government Printer. United Republic of Tanzania (2012). The national costed plan of action for most vulnerable children NCPA II, 2013–2017. Dar Es salaam. Tanzania: Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. United Republic of Tanzania (2013). 2012 population and housing census: Population distribution by administrative areas. Dar Es salaam. Tanzania: National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Finance. Walsh, F. (2003). Family resilience: A framework for clinical practice. Family Process, 42, 1–19. World Health Organization & the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (2006). Preventing child maltreatment: A guide to taking action and generating evidence, 2006. New York: WHO.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Children and Youth Services Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth
Child protection in Tanzania: A dream or nightmare Naftali Bernard Ng'ondi ⁎ Institute of Social Work, P.O. Box 3375, Dar-es-salaam 255 22, Tanzania
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 13 December 2014 Received in revised form 13 May 2015 Accepted 13 May 2015 Available online 21 May 2015 Keywords: Child protection Tanzania Violence Child abuse VAC study
a b s t r a c t Tanzania has been, especially in the past decade, crucially involved in the mission for child protection through various legislations and institutional arrangements, for instance the Law of the Child Act of 2009. This study examined how effective child protection measures have been in alleviating all forms of violations against children. The current study employed a cross sectional descriptive design to compare the prevalence of violations such as sexual, physical, and emotional violence experienced by the children between 2010/2011 and 2012/ 2013. Findings of the study show that violations against the children have increased almost 3 times between 2011/12 (n = 54) and 2012/2013 (n = 150). The majority of the victims of violence in both years were female children. In addition, most of the victims had both parents alive, but this increased from 56% in year 2011/2012 to 91% in 2012/2013. The study also identified poverty as a major contributing factor for violations in both years of the study (48% in 2011/12 and 36% in 2012/13). Most of the incidences of violations were a long term and an ongoing problem, and they frequently took place at home in both years. Despite the limitations, the findings suggest important implications for policy and practice. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction The child protection mission in Tanzania, as in many parts of the world, is ingrained in the dream of becoming a society that treats its children with a high level of respect for their dignity and worth for living, social justice, and freedom from harm and exploitation. Testimony to this commitment is evidenced by the conception and execution of various legislative, policy, and practice interventions. For instance, the Law of the Child Act of 2009 is inherently designed to punish and deter the public from even contemplating abusing children. From this point forward, this article uses the term “interventions” to refer to a combination of measures taken in the country for prevention and protection of child violence, unless otherwise indicated when a different meaning is sought. Despite child protection interventions, the recent nationally representative Violence Against Children study in Tanzania demonstrates that violence against children is still a serious problem with dire consequences to the nation's health and well-being (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a). For instance, the study revealed that nearly 3 in 10 females and approximately 1 in 7 males had experienced sexual violence prior to the age of 18. The study further indicates that physical violence rates are profoundly high with a prevalence of nearly three quarters of all children (72% of girls and 71% of boys). Acts of child violence appear to be outcomes of multiple interacting factors in various system levels. The ecological intervention model (Bronfenbrenner, 1999) posits that effective eradication efforts could ⁎ Tel.: +255 754 497122. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected].
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.05.012 0190-7409/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
be achieved if responses to violence against children adopted a holistic, integrated framework. That is, Tanzania might mitigate child violence when individual, familial, neighborhood, wider community, and national strategies are mobilized, combined, and balanced. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether child protection interventions have been successful in alleviating all forms of violence against children. Using district-level data from the Department of Social Welfare in Temeke, the current study sought to understand the socio-demographic characteristics of the abused children, the source and magnitude of various forms of violence against children, and provide a comparative analysis of the trend of violence against children across a 2-year period. Ultimately, this study sought to identify and bring to the attention of policy makers and professionals potential risk and protective factors with regard to developing evidence-based interventions that could effectively contribute to alleviating violence against children in Tanzania. 1.1. Background information This article adopts a definition of a child as defined in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and Ministry of Home Affairs (2013), as a “person below 18 years of age” as stated in the Law of the Child Act of 2009. This definition is also in line with most definitions in international human right instruments such as the Convention of the Right of the Child (CRC) of the 1989 article 1 (United Nations, 1989), which Tanzania ratified in 1991. According to the most recent 2012 population census in Tanzania, the child population between 0 and 17 years of age constitutes 50.1% of the total population (National Bureau of Statistics, 2013). Further
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disaggregation of the census data demonstrates that 43.9% of the country's population constitutes children in the 0–14 year age group. It is, therefore, clear from these statistics that children are an important segment of the Tanzanian populace (Ministry of Community Development, Women Affairs & Children, 1996), who are entitled to the rights of protection in order for them to grow well. While the child population basically halves the country population, a significant proportion of them have been reported to experience various forms of violence, which in most cases is perpetrated by adults (UNICEF, 2009; United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a). To address the child abuse problem in Tanzania, child protection involves a range of activities geared at prevention and response to violence, exploitation, and abuse (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, 2013). 1.2. Policy, legal, and institutional framework Similar to many other countries, child protection issues in Tanzania have gained much attention. Even though Tanzania's commitment to promote and protect the rights of children has a long history, national commitment to the dream of alleviating all forms of abuse and neglect among children has increased. Tanzania is one of the sub-Saharan African countries that joined global efforts for child protection. In 1990, Tanzania ratified the CRC of the United Nations General Assembly, and a decade later (2003) ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children (ACRWC). The national child protection commitment is further demonstrated by formulation of the Child Development Policy (Ministry of Community Development, Women's Affairs and Children, 1996). In 2009, Tanzania enacted the Law of the Child Act 2009. This act integrates child specific provisions from a range of national laws into one document, and accommodates fundamental rights of children as provided by international and regional conventions. The law further establishes a legislative and institutional framework for protection and care of children from abuse, violence, and neglect. Other legislative provisions for child protection include the Affiliation Ordinance, Children and Young Persons Act 1937, Children's Home Act 4—1968, Adoption of Children Act, Chapter 335, Law of Marriage Act No. 5 of 1971, Sexual Offences (Special Provisions) Act No. 4 of 1998, and National Education Act No. 25 of 1978 (cited in Mnzava, 2012). The National Costed Action Plan phase II of 2013–2017 provides for protection responses, such as alternative care for the victims, particularly when abuse happens in the family home (NCAP II) (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012). In 2011, Tanzania became the first African country to undertake a nationwide comprehensive study on all forms of violence (sexual, physical, and emotional) against both female and male children (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a). Most recently, a joint project aimed at alleviating violence against children has been put in place by the Government of Tanzania, UNICEF, Save the Children International (SCI), and Plan International (UNICEF, 2014). The joint project is reported to target Kisarawe, Kibaha, and Shinyanga rural districts on the mainland Tanzania and the West District of Zanzibar. The project also forms a response to the 2013–2016 National Plan of Action for Prevention and Response to Violence Against Children (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare & Ministry of Home Affairs, 2013). The plan is projected to expand child protection systems to 30 districts by 2016. Despite the existence of the aforementioned legislation, policies, and programs, the current study investigates whether Tanzania has been effectively intervening to resolve the child abuse problem. Resolving this problem would allow the country's dream of providing a safe home and community to all of its children to be realized. 1.3. Statement of the problem As indicated previously, many efforts in terms of legislation, policies, and institutional interventions have been undertaken in Tanzania to
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prevent child abuse and to intervene when it occurs. For instance, the 1998 Sexual Offences Special Provision Act in short SOSPA (United Republic of Tanzania, 1998), the Law of the Child Act in 2009, followed by policies and strategic initiatives in health, social welfare, policing, and other child committed sectors, presented an historic hallmark of a society beginning to become more responsible in treating children with proper and sufficient care and protection. For example, SOSPA provides stern punitive sentences (also adopted in the 2009 Law of the Child Act), including imprisonment for life, or in any case, imprisonment at least 30 years with corporal punishment for convicted offenders of sexual violence against children. One plausible explanation for the continuing sexual violence against children might lie in the entrenched beliefs that the perpetrators hold. These include the hard to resist superstitious expectations of gains in wealth and status. How one can gain wealth and status from sexual abuse with children is unclear; however, it is believed that the perpetrators are usually required by witchdoctors to sexually assault children as a ritual condition for making wealth generating magical charms (BBC News, 2008). Alternatively, practice wisdom suggests that perpetrators perceive that the institutional structures charged with the duty of bringing them to justice are porous in such a way that they will escape the law. Anecdotal and credible evidences to date continue to demonstrate that violence against children is still a pervasive social problem with potential serious health and socio-economic consequences (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare & Ministry of Home Affairs, 2013). Local media reports have consistently informed the public that abuse and exploitation of children are still deeply entrenched within in the country. For instance, “Nipashe” Newspaper (ISSN 0856-5414 No. 058055) of March 15 (2014), covered an attack of a two and one-half year-old child whose private parts were chopped off. The same local newspaper dated “Nipashe” News paper with ISSN 0856-5414 No. 058056 of Sunday March 16, 2014 (ISSN 0856-5414 No. 058056) reported serious incidences of male child sexual abuse among primary school students in the Kibaha District in the Coast Region that took place in sand quarries and isolated bush areas. Most perpetrators of this sexual abuse were fellow male primary school students at higher study levels than the victims, who primarily came from 3rd and 4th grades. One 3rd grade teacher reported that in his class of 98 students, half of them were spending most of their day time in the sand quarries and bushes and thus not attending classes as required. Moreover, the The Voice of America (VOA & http://www.voanews. com/content/attacks-on-albinos-surge-in-tanzania/1619907.html accessed March 14, 2014) covered attacks on children with albinism (children born without skin pigmentation) in the country. The VOA reported that in the Tabora central region of Tanzania, a group of men mutilated the arm of a 7-year-old boy with albinism, ultimately killing him and his 95-year-old grandfather who fought for his grandson's life. Similar incidences of violence against children with albinism were reported on February 5, in the same year (2014), in the northern Simiyu region, where another 7-monthold boy with albinism was attacked in his home by armed men. The boy survived because villagers learned of the attack early and was able to protect him. In the same region only four days later, a group of men chopped off the arm of another 10-year-old boy with albinism as he was headed home from school. Given such atrocities, it is unclear why coverage of attacks on children with albinism has found no entrance into major recent studies on violence against children. A systematic surveillance of the country's newspapers in March 2014 also demonstrates that on most days of a month, there is media coverage in at least one Tanzanian newspaper on child sexual abuse acts that are attributed to various reasons. Based on these reports, there appears to be either a disconnect between legal enforcement and an assumed informed knowledge of the community, particularly potential perpetrators, or these are insufficient interventions to prevent offensive behaviors to children.
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1.4. Rationale of this study The United Nations Secretary General (2006) has declared that violence against children is both a global human rights and public health issue, with substantial negative impact on children's overall development. Similarly, the scientific community has consistently argued that violence against children in all forms (physical, sexual, and emotional) can result in serious health, emotional, and social consequences to the victims, their families, and the wider community (UNICEF, 2006; UNSG, 2006). Likewise, the United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF study (2011a) observed that violence against children in Tanzania is a major threat to national development, our work to achieve the vision on poverty alleviation, and reaching the Millennium Development Goals. The report cautioned that Tanzania could not achieve the goal of attaining quality primary and secondary education unless children are safe in school. The report further argues that sexual violence, if not halted, will continue to fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS. In addition, all forms of violence against children are associated with increasing occurrence and costs of mental and physical health problems among the victims. Undertaking the current study was also fueled by the need to contribute towards our understanding of the demographic, social, and institutional dimensions of violence against children (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011b). The World Health Organization (WHO) also adds to concerns about the consequences of child violence. Such violence is associated with short- and long-term negative consequences, first to the victims themselves, and second to their families and communities, and thus is considered a “critical societal concern” (World Health Organization & the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect, 2006). The consequences in terms of risk factors and risk-taking behaviors include perpetration of violence, depression, smoking, obesity, high-risk sexual behaviors, unintended pregnancy, and alcohol and drug use later in life. At extreme levels, WHO concludes that the risk factors and behaviors originating from violence in childhood could lead to potential causes of death, disease, and disability, such as heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, and suicide. Violence to children threatens realization of the otherwise carefully conceived child protection objectives. The Convention on the Right of the Child states that all children have the right to be protected against all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse, including sexual abuse and sexual exploitation (United Nations, 1989). The current study therefore joins the global and national community in the fight against violence against children by providing updated and relatively reliable data to inform evidence driven interventions for child protection. Previous studies in Tanzania, such as the Violence Against Children (VAC) study (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a), gathered data through interviewing a sample of children and young adults in the country. The study findings, which involved 13–24 year-old respondents, represent the most recent estimates of child maltreatment in Tanzania. For ethical considerations, the study did not involve children under the age of 13, and focused on older respondents. Therefore, the study did not capture the experiences of younger children. The study also reported that research on children in Tanzania asking questions about their sexual activity were conducted earlier, such as the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (Nyandindi, 2008). However, that precedence alone may not provide sufficient justification for conducting research on issues that could potentially expose the children to serious emotional and social risks beyond those experienced in normal life. The VAC study also acknowledged that it did not sample respondents over 24 years of age, to reduce the recall bias inherent in the interviews. For the same argument, it can be reasonable to suppose that the 13–24 year respondents could have difficulties accurately recalling events that occurred in their early childhoods. While children have the right to freely express their views (United Nations: Human Rights, 1989), they may not have developed a mature understanding to categorize certain
acts as violence. In addition, respondents may not want to talk about their experiences due to common taboos around sexuality and the emotional tension of the topic (Kijo-Bisimba, 2012). Findings from interviews, such as those of the Violence Against Children study are important, but may not be sufficient to accurately measure child maltreatment. Given the previously discussed ethical and interview barriers, the current study was designed to gather data on violence against children reported at the district level. The study collected the carefully reported and recorded data over a two-year period from Tanzania's Child Protection Management Information System (CPMIS). Despite the fact that the current study likely missed some unreported cases of violence due to fear of retaliation in reporting offenders of child abuse, using data from the CPMIS contributes to an improved method in measuring child maltreatment in the country. 1.5. Theoretical framework This study employed the ecological theoretical framework (Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994; Bronfenbrenner, 1999) to suggest effective child protection interventions towards realizing the dream to keep children safe from violence. Applying Bronfenbrenner (1999), ecological theory, it can be argued that child protection is a dynamic and reciprocal process of interactions between children at risk of violence and the environment. The environment includes other individuals living close to the children, the immediate family, community values, beliefs, and factors that fuel violence, and larger societal legislative and policy interventions. Bronfenbrenner's perspective therefore considers the success of child protection as a product of the balanced and successful interactions between the children potentially at risk of violence, abuse, or exploitation and the various systems in the environment. The ecological theory posits that for the child protection dream to be realized, a holistic functioning of interventions in the five different ecological levels – the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem – must be used (Bronfenbrenner, 1999). Bronfenbrenner's (1994) concept of ecological transition is important in analyzing the reasons for continuing incidences of violence against the children in the country. The microsystem level structure in this study refers to the immediate environments, settings in which the child interacts with potential perpetrators or protectors such as family members, peers, and neighbors. A mesosystem constitutes the interactions between two or more immediate environments in which the child spends a significant amount of time in his/her life. A relevant example in this case is the interactions between a child's home and school experiences. Already revealed in the current study is the fact that incidences of child sexual abuse can be committed by either fellow children or adults in areas close to schools. Legislation, policies, and institutional programs for child protection and larger cultural values and beliefs fall into the macrosystem level. The chronosystem structure presents the level of analysis that calls for understanding the interactions between two or more immediate environments and a third dimension of time and space. This level suggests analyses of the dynamics of knowledge, practices, and time as critical attributes to consider over the life course and across socio-historical circumstances of violation of children rights. This study therefore assumes that for the child protection agenda to be realized, well organized interventions from different actors at various ecological levels that involve children are essential. 2. Material and methods 2.1. Study design The main goal of this study was to determine the current state of violence against children after the enactment of the 2009 Law of the Child Act and child protection responses in terms of policy and
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institutional activities. The study explored whether child protection interventions in Tanzania have yielded expected outcomes in terms of decreasing incidences of all forms of violence against children between two time periods after the enactment of the 2009 law. Therefore, the current study employed a cross sectional descriptive quantitative design. It utilized district level data from the Temeke Department of Social Welfare office to compare the prevalence of sexual, physical, and emotional violence experienced by the children between 2010/2011 and 2012/2013. The Temeke district is one of the three administrative districts (a county district in a federal state as in the U.S.) found in the region of Dar-es-salaam in Tanzania. Tanzania is located in the East African region along the coast of the Indian Ocean. According to the last Population and Housing Census in 2012, there were 44,928,923 persons in the whole country (United Republic of Tanzania, 2013). Dar-es-salaam has 4.36 million persons, equivalent to approximately 10% of the country's total population. The Temeke district has 1,368,881 persons, accounting for about 31% of the region's population. The current study chose Temeke district as it was one of the only three districts in the country that initially implemented the child protection project that was jointly designed by the Department of Social Welfare and UNICEF in 2011 (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, 2013). The other two project districts were the Magu and Hai districts found in Mwanza and Kilimanjaro regions with 299,759 and 210,533 persons respectively. The Magu and Hai districts basically represent populations that significantly characterize a rural community. Temeke, like the other two districts (Magu and Hai), operate a modern, reliable data base for collecting and keeping data on incidences of violence against children. Unlike the other two districts, Temeke offers a study population that captures both urban and semi-urban/rural dimensions of violence committed against children. Similar to the 2009 Tanzania Violence Against Children study, the current study primarily sought to assess the magnitude of all forms of violence against children. The study also collected data regarding the context in which acts of violence occurred, profiles of the victims and perpetrators, and relationships between the victims and perpetrators. However, the main difference is that while the Violence Against Children study data came from a national sample of respondents collected by trained interviewers, data for the current study were collected by qualified child protection service providers as reported by the child victims and/or their parents, relatives, friends or the child protection officials. In addition, most incidences were reported within a week, not requiring matured memory to recall. This methodological choice is consistent with a paradigm focus on child research methods (Kijo-Bisimba, 2012) that emphasize the need to collect data from the children themselves as they are “capable of reporting their own experiences.”
2.2. Type of data The Department of Social Welfare in collaboration with UNICEF — Tanzania, recognizes that quality Child Protection Services highly depend on effective systematic collection, organization, and storage of data and information. A modern computerized encrypted and password design for systematic collection of data and creation of a database forms the CPMIS (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, 2013). In addition to technological advancement in the process of collecting and storing data, the actual reported cases of violence against children are collected and documented by District Social Welfare Officers and other partners involved in case management. The data collectors were also thoroughly trained in research methods and ethical considerations (such as confidentiality and informed consent) that involve vulnerable children. The data that this study gathered present the most recent technologically generated data on violence against children in Tanzania.
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2.3. Data analysis The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20 was used to analyze the data. This study presents frequency distributions on socio-demographic characteristics of the abused children, parental circumstances and care arrangements, and profile of violence incidents/violations. The data generated from the CPMIS in Temeke District and used in this study covered the period between 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. The descriptive data are presented in such a way that a comparative analysis of violence against children between Time 1 and Time 2 can be determined, which is the main objective of this analysis. 2.4. Addressing human subjects This study did not identify the victims of child abuse and violence in the data that were accessed. The researcher obtained written permission from the Department of Social Welfare to access the relevant agency information about the abused children. The department strongly adheres to maintaining ethical responsibilities with regard to confidentiality surrounding the information given by the children. Before accessing the data, the researcher issued to the department a written guarantee to strictly use the data for publication in professional journals and in conferences where, in all circumstances, no child will be identified. Providing the researcher with the agency data from the four districts did not place any child whose information was provided at any risks beyond those encountered in everyday life. The researcher also informed the department that the children were not expected to personally benefit directly from this research. However, the results of the research were expected to assist the department and other partners involved in the child care system to improve services to abused children and their families. 3. Results This section presents descriptive statistics on incidences of violence and/or neglect of children between 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. Children's socio-demographics and the context of the violence and/or neglect are presented first. This is followed by a profile of the violations and incidences of violence. 3.1. Children socio-demographics and context of violence As demonstrated in Table 1, the number of children experiencing violence or neglect actually increased almost 3 times between 2011/2012 (n = 54) and 2012/2013 (n = 150), suggesting either an increase in child violations/violence or in reporting of such treatment. Although the majority of the victims of child maltreatment in both years were female, this percentage declined from 61% in 2011/2012 to 53% in 2012/2013. The findings of the study also show that in both time periods, a substantial proportion of the children were not in school at the time of violation, and there was an increase in the percentage of these children between the two time periods (31% in 2011/2012; 41% in 2012/2013). Furthermore, in both time periods, the majority of the victims had both parents alive, and there was a large increase in the percentage of the victims in this category, from 56% in 2011/2012 to 91% in 2012/2013. It can also be noted that there was a sizeable cumulative proportion of 33% of the victims in the year 2011/2012 who were orphans, which substantially decreased to a low of 3% during the next time period. Further disaggregation of the orphans' variable in 2011/ 2012 provides double orphans (7%), paternal orphans (17%), and maternal orphans (9%). For the care arrangement variable (primary care givers), the highest proportion (26%) of the victims in 2011/2012 lived in children's homes while in 2012/2013 most of the victims came from families with both living parents.
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Table 1 Children socio-demographic circumstances. Variable
Table 2 Profile of violation/incidences of violence.
Year
Variable
2011/2012
2012/2013
No.
Percent
No.
Percent
21 33 54
39 61
71 79 150
47 53
Schooling status (at time of violation) In school 37 Not in school 17 Total 54
69 31
89 61 150
59 41
Parental circumstances (status) Both parents alive Parents missing Double orphans Paternal orphan Maternal orphan Other/unknown/unrecorded Total
56 7 7 17 9 4
136 7 2 1 1 3 150
91 5 1 1 1 2
Care arrangements (primary caregivers) Both parents 9 Mother only 8 Father only 7 Other family member 10 Informal guardian 1 Children's home 14 Other/unknown/unrecorded 5 Total 54
17 15 13 19 2 26 9
55 44 15 20 5 1 10 150
37 29 10 13 3 1 7
Contributory factors Poverty Divorce of parents Separation of parents Alcohol misuse Traditional/cultural norms Family pressures Death of parent(s) Polygamy/ step parents Misuse of electronic media Others Unknown/not recorded Total counts
48 4 15 6 2 6 13 0 0 37 11
54 40 36 12 9 8 6 10 7 22 14 230
36 27 24 8 6 5 4 7 5 15 9
Sex Male Female Total
30 4 4 9 5 2 54
26 2 8 3 1 3 7 0 0 20 6 76
Source: Social Welfare Department, 2013.
Year 2011/2012
2012/2013
No.
Percent
No.
Percent
When the incident took place Specific day Long term/on-going problem Unknown/unrecorded Total
26 25 3 54
48 46 6
40 110 0 150
27 73 0
Who reported violation/incidence Parent/carer Local police post/station Village/child protection officials Child NGO/FBO/CBO Others Total
2 24 3 2 14 9 54
4 44 6 4 26 17
78 11 28 8 0 25 150
52 7 19 5 0 17
18
33
18 4 4 7 3 54
33 7 7 13 5
92 21 9 3 0 10 15 150
61 14 6 2 0 7 10
29 33 4 7 33 1 188
54 61 7 13 61 2
71 92 9 1 13 2 107
47 61 6 1 9 1
1 2 12 0 8 0 10 1 15
2 4 22 0 15 0 19 2 28
10 13 34 3 20 3 49 9 25
7 9 23 2 13 3 33 6 18
Where the incidence took place Home Public transport Children home Walking locally School/training college Other places Unknown/unrecorded Total Types of incidence/violation Violence Neglect and denial of service Child labor Trafficking Without primary caregiver Other violation Total responses Types of violence Physical violence Corporal punishment Rape Attempted rape Sexual abuse Incest Psychological violence Sexual exploitation Others Source: Social Welfare Department, 2013.
With regard to the contributing factors to incidences of violations/ violence against the children, multiple factors appear to place children at such risk. For instance, poverty appears on top of the list in both years, and this percentage declined in the second year (48% in 2011/ 12; 36% in 2012/13). The combination of divorce (27%) and separation (24%) of parents constituted the majority of the reasons that influenced incidences of violence against the children in 2012/13. As noted in Table 1, there was more than twice (37%) the number of child maltreatment victims in 2011/12 compared with the 15% in 2012/13 whose violence was attributed to “others,” reasons, such as drug abuse, children left alone without adult supervision, poor socialization, and idle time in schools. 3.2. Profile of the violations/incidences The levels of violence against the children have continued to be high. The findings of the study presented in Table 2 also indicate that in both years most of the incidences of violations were a long-term and an ongoing problem, and even increased in the second year from 46% in 2011/12 to 73% in 2012/2013. In terms of who reported the incidence of violations to the child protection authorities, the study indicated that in 2012/13 parents/caregivers constituted the majority (52%: n = 78) of the individuals/institutions that reported violation to DCPT, compared to only 4% (n = 2) in 2011/12. In both years, the highest
proportion of the cases of violence against the children took place in the child's family home and in the “Children's Home” by 33%. The incidents that occurred in the child's family home increased almost two times from 33% in 2011/2012 to 61% in 2012/2013. In 2011/2012 the study findings determined that the child's family home was the place where most incidences (33%) of violations took place, and in 2012/2013 the rate of such incidences decreased to 6%. The study also reveals that 7% of incidences took place in schools or training colleges in 2011/2012, while no children suffered such treatment in the following year. Public transportation, however, appears to place children at risk (14%) for violations only in 2012/2013. This possibly indicates the increase of severity of the incidences that have come out from the hiding into the public places. The current study found that the most common type of violence/violation in both years was child neglect and denial of services, and this percentage was identical (61%) in both years. There were also 61% of incidences that occurred in connection with the absence of a primary caregiver in the first year, which subsequently declined to 9%. Overall, incidences that involved sexual violence (rape, attempted rape, sexual abuse, incest, sexual exploitation when combined together) were also quite high in both years, and actually increased from 39% in 2011/ 2012 to 47% in 2012/2013.
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Further analysis of the types of violence produces somewhat mixed results. For instance in 2012/2013, incidences of psychological violence increased from 19% in 2011/2012 to 33% in 2011/2012, but rape incidences in both years were similar at 22%. Percentages of sexual abuse incidences were also slightly similar (15% in 2011/2012; 13% in 2012/ 2013), but lower in the second year. When incidences of rape and sexual abuse are combined, the findings demonstrate that in both study years, more than 1/3 of the reported types of violence involved child sexual violence. Also notably in Table 2, out of the 9 types of violence, 7 percentages (in physical violence, corporal punishment, rape, attempted rape, incest, psychological violence, and sexual exploitation) are higher in the second time period, even though some of these differences are not large. 4. Discussion and conclusions 4.1. The study findings This study was conceived out of the desire to estimate how close the child protection interventions that Tanzania has put into place have resulted in the dream of alleviating all forms of violence against children in the country. At the current time, Tanzania is already five years down the lane following the passage of the critical legislative instrument that is the Law of The Child Act of 2009. We would expect if Tanzania were making good progress towards its goal, that the results would demonstrate a lower number of child violations and lower percentages in the various categories examined in this article. However, many times this was not the case. This study has established that incidences of violations against the children have been about 3 times higher in the year 2012/2013 than in 2011/2012 year. Although the data may suggest improvement in the reporting system, this is a clear demonstration of increasing prevalence in child violations/violence. Insights from Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory suggests that the institutional and child care arrangements from the level of the family to the national policy and legal structures are not yet effective in deterring the perpetrators from violating the protection rights of the children. While there were multiple factors found as possible contributors to the incidences of violations/violence against children, poverty topped the list (36%), followed by divorce (27%) and separation (24%) of parents in 2012/2013 year. Thus, it is likely that poverty and family instability are predisposing environments for violence against children. The absence or ineffectiveness of a child friendly response system (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012), suggests that tapping on the children's families' resilience could offer and promote healthy family functioning capabilities for child protection (Walsh, 2003). Promoting families' resilience, however, need not be conceived as a spontaneous process, but rather one that also requires influencing policy institutional regulation in protecting the vulnerable children (Mamdani, Rajani, Leach, Tumbo-Masabo, & Omondi, 2009). The study also demonstrates that about 90% of the victims in 2012/ 2013 had both parents alive compared to about 50% in the year 2011/ 2012. This implies that more recently most of the victims came from families having both parents alive. About a third cumulative proportion of the victims in the year 2011/2012 were orphans. We understand that orphans in Tanzania experiences multiple vulnerabilities, such as lacking basic life necessities and psychosocial problems. The data indicate that the orphans who lost their fathers constituted the largest proportion of the orphans who experienced violence. This suggests that practitioners would need to pay closer attention in protecting these children. Combined results demonstrate that in both study years, more than 1/3 of the reported cases of violence involved sexual violence to the children. These data replicate the results of the national qualitative Violence Against Children study conducted in 2009 (United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF, 2011a). Having consistent high proportions of acts of child sexual abuse reported over a 5-year period is evidence that the celebrated legislative, policy, and program
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interventions for child protection have so far not lived up to the earlier conceived expectations. Other literature (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012) is also very clear that the capacity of the local government structures is not sufficient to facilitate handling of child maltreatment. The literature indicates that local structures such as village governments and the established MVCCs lack technical and institutional capacity and sufficient skills to effectively handle cases of violence against children. The literature further highlights that such institutions are not well connected to the resourceful Social Welfare Department. The latter could be useful for further technical and other support in the best interests of the child. In addition, some critical cases reported to the police, end up being poorly handled in such a way that they get treated through tough police procedures that barely utilizes children friendly skills to protect their rights. The study also reveals the surprising finding whereby in 2012/13 parents/caregivers constituted the majority (52%: n = 78) of the individuals/institutions that reported violation to DCPT, compared to only 4% (n = 2) in 2011/12. Combined results of late reported cases, that is, over a week to over three months, had improved from 26% in 2011/2012 to 9% in 2012/2013. While these data demonstrate increasing early intervention, reporting alone has proven to be inadequate in the overall objective of seeing justice being served to the abused children and the perpetrators. While the current study recognizes the importance of the increase in reporting incidences of violence against children, it does so with a special caution that this is just the beginning of a long road to justice for abused children. Certainly, reporting of such incidences could even be 100% of the incidences that occurred; but this alone, is not good enough when such reported cases are dropped by the police for lack of sufficient evidence (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012). The study findings also highlight that highest proportion (33%) of cases took place at the child's family home and in “children's homes”. Consistent with the findings from the United Republic of Tanzania & UNICEF study (2011a), the results indicate that there are a substantial proportion of perpetrators who live very close to the children. This level of vicinity where children get abused correlates with Bronfenbrenner's first ecological environmental structure called the micro-system. If violent incidences happen in places that children believe are safe and conducive for their well-being, this implies that it could be difficult to address post traumatic effects among the victims unless alternative care (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012) such as adoption or foster family arrangements are organized. If the homes in which children reside are unable to protect children, alternative care and support programs or foster care arrangements may reasonably seem appealing. For instance, a qualitative descriptive study (Mwaipopo, 2005) provided tentative positive outcomes of an alternative foster parenting arrangement in improving the psychosocial well-being of vulnerable children. In addition, psychosocial support programs involving the parents seem to be associated with fewer incidences of child abuse (Nyangara, Thurman, Hutchinson, & Obiero, 2009). However, larger empirical practice evidence (Berger, Bruch, James, Johnson, & Rubin, 2009) has suggested that children at imminent risk for abuse and neglect have a high propensity to suffer increased behavioral problems in programs taking place outside their families. Therefore, our understanding and choices on the appropriateness of either home or out-of-home placements need to be sufficiently informed by evidence-based child protection practices, and if not sufficiently available, by the most promising practices. 4.2. Conclusions The data indicate that in a period of two years, violence against children does not show any indication of subsiding, but rather increasing, thus, replicating the 2011 Violence Against Children findings. Statistics from the CPMIS database in the Temeke district demonstrate an increase of the incidences of violence against children despite the
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existence of harsh punitive legislative interventions. There currently exist tough child protection legislation and response programs that are harmonized into The Law of the Child Act No. 21—2009. If the law provides for life imprisonment, and we still report a rate of 1/3 sexual abuse of the violence against children, we have a strong case to mandate asking a critical question on whether we really need to be optimistic with stern responsive legislations. Rational wisdom informed by these statistics compels coming to the conclusion that there is a need to think of alternatives that would keep children away from the risk of abuse or neglect. Family, neighborhood and community involvement may have improved in terms of exposing the violations to local authorities, which is basically a treatment/response approach after offenses have been committed to the children. This approach must not be the first line of the nation's programs. Individuals, particularly adult perpetrators, family, and local institutions and cultural communities must be transformed from their abuse and destructive beliefs and practices against children in order to prevent violence from occurring. The dream of all good citizens of the country to see a protection of children from all sorts of violence, at least in our life time, remains a distant reality if little investment in prevention measures continues. The current study finds it appropriate to conclude with an echoed message in 2002 that: “… no violence against children is justifiable; all violence against children is preventable. There should be no more excuses. Member States must act now with urgency to fulfill their human rights obligations and other commitments to ensure protection from all forms of violence. While legal obligations lie with States, all sectors of society, all individuals, share the responsibility of condemning and preventing violence against children and responding to child victims. None of us can look children in the eye if we continue to approve or condone any form of violence against them.” [(Krug, Dahlberg, Mercy, Zwi, & Lozano, 2002)] While there is no attempt in the current study in any way to disregard responsive measures for child protection, the core message remains that an integrative and ecological (Bronfenbrenner, 1999) well rounded prevention is the key to the dream of keeping the children safe from violence.
4.3. Study limitations This study has several limitations. The study was able to access and analyze systematically collected data (not as recalled and recounted by sampled interviewees) reserved in the high quality CPMIS. However, because the data came from one district project area, the findings of the study cannot be generalized to other abused/neglected children in Tanzania. Although, the study portrayed, for instance, the increase in reporting of violations, it lacks a contextual nuanced understanding to explain the increase. Future research could be conducted to understand the relationship between children's socio-demographic characteristics and the profile of violence experienced.
4.4. Policy and practice implications Despite the above limitations, the study findings suggest important implications for addressing the risk factors and identifying protective structures. First, the 2-year study findings demonstrate a consistent trend of increase of violence incidences against children. This trend happens in the midst of a well elaborated legislative and institutional framework (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012) to halt abuse of children. Policy makers need to re-evaluate how grass root activities could be utilized to identify and target preventing abuses
before they happen at the family, neighborhood, and local community levels. Second, this study demonstrates that most incidences of violence occurred in places that children defined as their homes. An important practical implication to the response agency and social work professionals who serve the children, calls for understanding and utilization of a five tier ecological (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 1994; Bronfenbrenner, 1999) framework that seeks to understand and transform knowledge, attitudes, and practices of every citizen from individual, family, groups, and community levels. In the context of child protection, the ecological approach systematically considers the importance of the individual and environmental factors and their complex interactions in understanding the incidences of violations, response structures, and prevention systems. Third, the majority of the sexual abuse victims are female children, which presents another important gender dimension. A United Nations study (UNGAS, 2009) revealed that girls who are exposed to violence are less likely to complete their education. Both global and national initiatives are also seriously committed to condemning and eradicating all forms of abuse of female children. An important refinement in identification, assessment, and protection procedures calls for response social workers, families, and the larger community to pay special attention to female children. Fourth, a substantial number of incidences of violence happened to children who were attending primary schools at the time of violation. Some incidences of abuse also occurred in schools. An important practice implication calls for school based cognitive behavioral programs (Kendall, 2000) that first seek to raise awareness and knowledge. The mind sets' altering programs also are potentially capable of systematically desensitizing the children from thinking and engaging in the acts of sexual abuse. In addition, school social workers in collaboration with school authorities need to assess and design early interventions, including kids clubs that would keep the school children particularly boys away from behavioral misconduct including sexual interactions. The study findings overall suggest that the “formal and informal mechanisms” (United Republic of Tanzania, 2012; pg 27) have been less effective in preventing (let alone responding to) abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children. Therefore it calls for ecologically informed family and community based interventions. That is, policies that call for preventive measures must take precedence over legislation that fundamentally targets the perpetrators of violations of children's rights in a remedial way. The truth and value of this recommendation also finds support in the scientifically sound “systems approach” model that has found advocacy and support in the current National Guidelines for Establishing a Child Protection System in Tanzania (Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, 2013). The department posits that: “… a systems approach creates an integrated, holistic approach to child protection and child well-being, by having a linked and coherent set of structures, functions and capacities to meet the goal of child protection. A system integrates the actions of families (and children themselves), communities, formal and informal laws and practices, state and non-state of actors across all sectors, to work together to protect children. It looks at all the actions needed to protect children along a continuum, from promotion of a safe environment for the child and prevention through to response and restorative services for children at risk of, or experiencing violence, neglect, exploitation and abuse” (p. 7). Despite the fact that the current research has been very clear about the child protection limitations, as a country we still have to keep the dream and hopes as impetus to build a society that would ultimately choose and guarantee the safety of its children.
N.B. Ng'ondi / Children and Youth Services Review 55 (2015) 10–17
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