This paper examined the strategies for preventing and responding to
sexual violence against children in Rombo district, Tanzania. Sexual violence
against children (SVAC) remains a major concern in many countries across the
globe and in developing countries such as
Tanzania. The SVAC encompasses a range of
offenses such as completed non-consensual sex acts such as rape, attempted non-consensual sex acts, abusive sexual
contacts such as unwanted sexual touching and non-contact sexual abuse.
Studies have been conducted to assess strategies to prevent and respond to
sexual violence against children. However, studies that focus on examining the
strategies and how they are used by Community Based Child Protection Mechanisms
(CBCPMs) are still limited in Tanzania.
Therefore, this study aimed to examine the strategies used by CB-CPMs to prevent and respond to sexual violence
against children in Rombo District,
Tanzania. A mixed methods study was conducted involving 158 members of
CBCPMs. A total of 108 responded to a questionnaire, 4 Focus Group Discussions
(FGDs) were conducted involving 40 members of CBCPMs and 10 Key Informant
Interviews(KIIs) were conducted to complement data collected through questionnaire. Descriptive data analysis was conducted
with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version
23. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic content analysis. The study
concludes that awareness raising, provision
of advice, communication, identification of children, referral of abused
children, mapping and monitoring of children had effects on combating SVAC. The study revealed that CBCPMs have improved
situation of SVAC and child protection environment in Rombo district.
Therefore, study recommends that, the
government should support CBCPMs through funding, monitoring and
capacity building in order to strengthen their skills to combat SVAC. The study also recommends
that more awareness raising should be carried
out to the community in order to address sexual violence against
children.
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