East Africa - Violence Against Girls

Nine out of ten girls in East Africa are abused by the very people who they are supposed to trust the most, a research conducted by the African Child Policy Forum showed Thursday.

The research tells the story of their mothers tying them up; friends driving them into prostitution; teachers psychologically abusing them; boyfriends forcing them to have sex; and brothers kicking them.

Presenting the report of the research in the Second International Policy Conference on the African Child: Violence Against Girls in Africa held yesterday, the forum said the studies conducted reveals the bitter truth and paints a real picture of the situation in which African girls find themselves.

One Ethiopian woman articulated the cost of violence committed by those closest to her when she said. "I have been subjected to different forms of violence. However, the sexual abuse committed against me by my own father could not get out of my mind." "The studies we conducted are not just an accumulation of facts and figures; they are the very real stories of what these girls have experienced," Dr. Assefa Bequele, Executive Director of The African Child Policy Forum said presenting a report of the research.

"We must speak out against violence against children and confront attitudes that tolerate it.

It is inexcusable that one in very two girls in Ethiopia will marry before their 18th birthday; that thousands of girls are abducted to serve as soldiers, domestic servants and sexual salves in Uganda. The Forum believes girls in Africa are born to a high risk and that action must be taken to address these issues." The African Child Policy Forum conducted various types of research for its Second International Policy Conference on the African Child: Violence Against Girls in Africa for the two days conference, in which officially opened in the presence FDRE President, H.E. Girma W. Georgis In Ethiopia, every girl interviewed had experienced some form of violence at one time or another and more than 90 per cent of girls questioned in Uganda had experienced some form of sexual abuse.

Among the prominent speakers at day one of the conference were Joquim Chissano (Former President of Mozambique and current Chairperson of the Africa Forum for African former Heads of State), Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, AU Special Envoy and Chief Mediator for the Inter-Sudanese Peace talks in Darfur; who is also the Chairman of The African Child Policy Forum's International Board of Trustees, Dr.Rima Salah, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, Professor Jaap Doek UN Special reporters on violence against women, and numerous others Delivering his welcoming speech, Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, AU Special Envoy and Chief Mediator for the Inter-Sudanese Peace talks in Darfur; who is also the Chairman of International Board of Trustee, The African Child Policy said tens of thousands of women were likely to be victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime. Girls were, he said, particularly vulnerable to this form of violence from a very early age and throughout their childhood.

He said Africa can tackle the problem if the issue was addressed with sensitivity as well as realism.

"And believe me," he told participants of the conference, "we can make a difference." Representatives of child rights organizations, members of the Pan African Parliament, African Policy makers, the AU, UN, African Committee of experts on the rights and welfare of children and many others are attending the conference which will end today.

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