CHILD abuse remains a serious problem in Zimbabwe despite government efforts through the Health and Child Welfare ministry to deal with issues involved.
Report by Own correspondent
Many privately inspired initiatives, including the more visible Childline, have been in operation for years, their impact remains insignificant largely because of the veil of secrecy that shields child abuse from public scrutiny.
Hardly out of his teens himself, Ashley Mangozi, who is a 20-year-old, has become one of the youngest child advocates fighting for an abuse free environment in Bulawayo.
Mangozi grew up seeing other children being abused by the people they expected to be their role models and who were supposed to be protecting them. He realised that abuse cases (sexual, physical and emotional) were often hidden away from society while most victims were afraid to speak up and report their cases for a number of reasons.
This is what gave Mangozi the zeal to help children who are victims of abuse as they were the most vulnerable and could not stand up for themselves. He formed the Anti-Abuse club which has been running for two years.
Mangozi was born on August 29, 1992 and grew up in Queens Park West, Bulawayo. He currently lives in Mzilikazi with his parents and three siblings. Mangozi says the real urge to act against abuse started when he was in form two at Milton High School.
A friend asked Mangozi to accompany him to Childline.When they got to Childline, Mangozi was interested in the Organisation and was drawn into asking a number of questions. He ended up receiving a lot of enlightening information about abuse, its effects on children, how to tell if one is being abused, how to avoid it and how to react if one is being abused. From then on, Childline invited Mangozi to their projects and he later became a member of Childline.
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Mangozi then decided to form an Anti-abuse club in 2010. He started by raising awareness about the club at school where his friends and a number of students later joined him. The club was made up of 10 members and it later grew to have 65 members.
He says dealing with children who are being abused has not been easy because the members of the anti-abuse club must be equipped with necessary skills to get the children to trust the members and open up about their experiences. Sometimes some cases of abuse are not probed further due to lack of participation from victims.
Anti-Abuse club has managed to address 35 000 primary school students, 15 000 secondary school students and 5 000 students from high schools.
Last year in March, the Anti-Abuse Club spent the whole month going around schools in Bulawayo addressing children as a way to reduce the rate of abuse in Bulawayo which stood at 98,5% last year. Their efforts paid off as the rate reduced to 50,5% this year.
With funding from UNICEF from Canada, the 65 members of the club visit primary, secondary and high schools around Bulawayo addressing school children about sexual abuse and also holding counselling sessions with victims of abuse at schools.
Ashley and his club aim to reduce the rate of abuse in Zimbabwe which is currently high. Childline also provides cash which helps the club members distribute Anti-Abuse club pamphlets in different schools and buy T-shirts.
A local, Matthew Dube, said he first met Mangozi at Foundation College in 2011when he was in form three.
Matthew described him as a passionate boy who was willing to help other children. He said it is this passion that makes him dedicated to his Anti- Abuse club.
Ashley Unity said he met Mangozi at Foundation College and he witnessed Mangozi advocating for anti-abuse and forming the Anti–Abuse club.
He describes Mangozi as hardworking and academically gifted. According to Unity, Mangozi is a great mentor as he also taught the club members and transferred the skills that he had received from a short training programme from Childline.
