Border jumpers sexually abused

Border jumpers sexually abused

By Mashudu Netsianda  

SCORES of Zimbabwean women illegally crossing the border to South Africa through undesignated entry points have been sexually abused by organised criminals, who operate along the border.
Statistics indicate that 196 rape cases were reported between April last year and March this year.
The statistics are contained in a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) report, presented by the organisation's project co-ordinator for Musina in South Africa, Mr Giuseppe De Mova, during a workshop in Beitbridge yesterday.
He, however, noted that several cases continued to go unreported as victims fear stigmatisation.
“We have between April last year and March this year handled a total of 196 cases of Zimbabwean border jumpers who have been sexually abused while illegally crossing the border to South Africa through bushy areas,” he said.
Mr De Mova said an average of 16 border jumpers were being raped and robbed every month as several Zimbabweans continued to stream into the neighbouring country through undesignated entry points.
“There are about 350 asylum seekers who visit the South African Home Affairs department everyday and some of them come to our Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) clinic for STI treatment and in the process they also narrate their harrowing experiences on their way to South Africa through bushy irregular crossing points,” he said.
“However, our worry is that most of them do not report to the police, which in essence means that the statistics at hand are nothing but a mere tip of an iceberg. For instance between 1 March and 10 April this year, we received 52 reported cases of SGBV survivors involving 51 Zimbabweans and a Mozambican, yet the actual number of victims was 96,” he said.
Mr De Mova said 61 percent of the victims make late reports largely due to lack of adequate information.
He further noted that last month they received 36 cases, but of those only four were reported to the police.
MSF, which is also known as Doctors Without Borders, has established SGBV clinics in the border towns of Musina and Beitbridge in which the non-governmental organisation is mainly targeting in-transit truck drivers, commercial sex workers and sexually abused irregular migrants seeking STI treatment, trauma counselling, tetanus, HIV and Aids tests and anti-retroviral post exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
The case detection sites include SMG Musina police detention centre, refugee shelters and surrounding South African farms along the borderline.
The hotspots for criminals, commonly known as omagumaguma, are Tshikwalakwala, Makakavhule, Dite and Musina on the South African side of the border. “These criminals at times force their victims to have sex with their sisters at knifepoint after which they then rape them before robbing them of their money and some of the women will be travelling with babies who by virtue of being vulnerable also fall prey,” said Mr De Mova.
Stakeholders attending the workshop called for concerted efforts in the fight against SGBV cases, saying there was need to embark on an awareness campaign to contain the situation.
The director for the Women and Aids Group (WAG), Ms Mary Sandasi, said there was need for key players to devise mechanisms aimed at addressing some of the loopholes in the fight against the growing trend.
She said children under foster parental care, women-headed households and those physically and mentally handicapped were the most vulnerable.
Publisher: www.chronicle.co.zw/ 15/04/10