Zanzibar — PRESIDENT Hussein Mwinyi has launched a 23-member committee to prevent sexual abuses, hoping that the move will reduce the menace in the society.
The committee includes members drawn from various institutions including the government, private institutions and human rights activists, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) office, Mufti office, Ministry of Educational and Vocational Training, Ministry of Social Welfare, Elders, Children and Gender, among others.
"I direct all institutions with members who form this committee to provide the necessary cooperation," Dr Mwinyi said at the launching ceremony held on Thursday, this week.
He also directed the respective institutions to work closely with the DPP office to achieve the objectives. The Committee is chaired by the Deputy DPP, Ms Mwanamkaa Abdulrahman Mohammed.
Dr Mwinyi said statistics given by the DPP on sexual abuse clearly indicate increased moral deterioration and the continuation of the abuse.
"We all have a role to play to stop sexual abuse and we are backed by the fact that all religions are against this. I believe that religious leaders have a big opportunity to educate the community on the best ways to avoid and prevent the sexual abuse," he stated.
He urged parents to uphold proper parenting and collective responsibility in child upbringing so that country could have well-behaved young people.
The President said he was happy that the main objective of the committee is to find ways of preventing incidents before they happen, contrary to a normal practice of dealing with them after they have already occurred.
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"But I urge the Committee to identify gaps in policies, regulations and laws that obstruct efficiency in battling sexual abuse," he added.
The Minister of State in the President's Office - Constitution, Legal Affairs, Public Service and Good Governance, Mr Haroun Ali Suleiman thanked DPP for coming up with the idea of forming the committee to intensify campaign against sexual abuse.
In his remarks the DPP, Mr Mgeni Jailani Jecha said there was an increase of incidents of sexual abuse from 1222 cases in 2021 to 1360 last year and that the number of abused children also increased from 1068 in 2021 to 1173 in 2022.
"We have 784 suspects of sexual abuse in remand. Our target is to have at least 65 percent of the suspects convicted to indicate seriousness in the battle," Mr Jecha said.
He said the formation of Committee is a step forward in the implementation of the instructions issued by President Mwinyi during a Conference on Sexual violence held in July, 2021 when he asked institutions to have programs or strategies to overcome sexual abuse.
