Source: Tanzania Daily News

AT a time when activists were working to eliminate Gender based violence including abuse against girls, an odd phenomenon emerged.Some women have become so overprotective of their marriages that they were hiding abuse incidents against themselves or their own children and housemaids, thus threatening to derail achievements made in the fight against gender-based violence.

Several case studies presented recently at an annual meeting of Faith -based Female leaders are pointing to the fact that there is a long way to go in the fight against abuse of girls and women in general.

The leaders are working under engendering Change programme implemented by the Tanga-based organization. The organisation, Tree of Hope, dedicates itself to elimination of gender-based violence in the Tanga Region, and has the support of the Oxfam Tanzania.

The Tanga District Commissioner, Halima Dendego, an ardent fighter for women's rights, was so incensed with the reports that she warned women against falling back in the struggle to eliminate gender-based violence even when the incidents involved their husbands.

Execution of the programme, due to enter a new phase come April this year has reportedly unearthed increasing incidents of abuse against girls perpetrated by parents.

The female leaders reported the phenomenon as a challenge which could delay achievements in eliminating abuse incidents, especially among women and children of both sexes.

The female leaders said that in several reported cases wives tended to protect their marriages more by being protective of their husbands even when they were involved in serious abuse of girls (including own daughters) residing in their houses.

Ms. Dendego was so moved that she also shared an experience involving a pastor who abused a secondary school girl she had earlier requested to be in his custody against her family who wanted to pull her out of school into a forced marriage.

"The pastor and his wife came to seek permission to live with her as their own child to save her from forced marriage and enable her to continue with studies," said Ms. Dendego.

She told the meeting that after several days the pastor started to rape the girl and the girl reported the matter to the pastor's wife who surprisingly did not take any action.

However, after a few months, the pastor went to the DC's Office to complain on the girl's behaviour, saying he wanted to send her back to her parents. "When I summoned the girl to my office, she revealed a terrible experience of sexual violence," Ms. Dendego said, adding that she was also surprised that the pastor's wife chose to remain silent on the matter ostensibly to protect her marriage.

Dendegio told the meeting that she held a panel of arbitration session in which the pastor was ordered to pay a handsome amount of money, enough to pay for the girl's school fees and other school requirement.

She said that she took over guardianship of the girl who is currently at the University of Dar es Salaam. Several case studies were reported at the meeting including one reported by Pastor Furaha Simtenda of the Buhuri Elinm Pentecostal Church, in the Tanga City, where a husband abused a sixmonth baby girl but the wife refused an advise by the pastor to seek legal help to punish her husband, saying she could not let her husband go to jail because she had no one to support her.

A Tanzania Muslim Council (BAKWATA) leader, Rukia reported an incident which occurred at Road Number 17 in the City where a man was caught locked inside his house with his own child, a standard six girl. "He wanted to rape her, but neighbours went and helped the girl.

The man had taken advantage of the absence of the girl's mother, who was attending the funeral of a neighbour," Rukia said. She said that neighbours reported the matter to the Ward Executive Officer, who immediately called the police.

"When the police came the girl made shocking revelations that her father had been raping her for three years since she was in standard four but surprising the victims' mother refused to cooperate to bring to book the wayward husband because she claimed she had no one to take care of her.

It was relief that her husband's family promised to take action and let the law take its own course of action.

"The Doctor's report showed that the girl had been raped frequently and the case is now at the Chumbageni Police Station," said Rukia. Such a situation tallied with what Mama Tunu Pinda said when she inaugurated Tanga Regional Network Against Gender-based violence.

Mama Pinda was quoted as saying that it seemed strange that even women who are victims of gender-based violence have accepted the evil as a normal customary procedure.

"It is impossible to believe that a survey conducted by the Statistics Department in 2010 shows that 46 per cent of women agreed that men have the right to beat their wives, while 43 per cent agree that husbands have the right to do the same if the wives leave their home without permission of their husbands," she wondered.

The study also showed that 47 per cent of women agree that husbands have a right to beat their wives if the wife ignores looking after the children while 29 per cent are in agreement that husbands should beat them if they refuse to have sex with their husbands.

Some of the wildest behaviour is that some women accept that husbands should beat them if they burn food when cooking. But such an attitude are perverted and ought to be fought and need to be fought at any cost with the aim of eradicating them in the society, once and for all.

Mama Tunu appealed to all women in Tanzania to report all acts of Gender-based violence to their respective authorities immediately to enable them take appropriate legal action," Mrs Pinda said.

The Tree of Hope Director, Mrs Fortunata Manyeresa while saying that such a situation was quite an unfortunate one, pledged to continue to work with religious women to overcome the fear of reporting husbands who sexually abuse their children and ensure that gender violence is reduced to a great extent in Tanga region.

"There is need to continue to work as a team to eliminate incidents of abuse such as those reported during the meeting as case studies," Mrs Manyeresa said.

• Tanzania