Violence Against Women
Source: AllAfrica
TWENTY per cent of street children in Dar es Salaam have been emotionally and sexually abused by different people, a study by the Family Health International (FHI360) has revealed.
FHI Senior Technical Officer, Ms Judith Masasi told a stakeholders' meeting on the situation of child beggars in the city yesterday, that the report findings indicate that 75 per cent of these children were between the ages of 6 and 14 years.
"The report shows that a majority of these children come from families of beggars and that their parents are still begging. This calls for collective intervention by different stakeholders and community to sustain children safety through family support system," she said.
According to Ms Masasi, the report involved 332 children (172 male and 160 female) and 298 adult beggars and that the information collected from respondents was categorised into children and adults beggars.
She said the study indicates that 85 per cent of the children surveyed would like to join or go back to school, given an opportunity whereas 20 per cent of the children have decisions, adding that 35 per cent of the children surveyed were from Dodoma.
Ms Masasi said very little has been made to take out and support child beggars and their guardians from the devastating situation, saying effective strategies were vital to address the root causes of the problem.
In his remarks, the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Saidi Meck Sadiki, said the report would be used to address the problem, saying children should be in their families for ideal upbringing.
"The government will work together with different stakeholders to address the street children problem," said Mr Sadiki in a speech read on his behalf by Regional Social Welfare Officer, Ms Victoria Bura.
Abdallah Juma (15), one of the street children, said he was forced to drop out from school while in Standard Six in Morogoro Region because of lack of school fees, saying he begs in order to make end meets. "I dropped out from school because of lack of school fees and other basic needs after my father abandoned our family," he said.
The report will be used to facilitate the project titled Pamoja Tuwalee (Together raise them) by FHI 360 in the Coast Zone (Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Zanzibar and Coast Region).