The Mozambican government on Wednesday declared “zero tolerance” for violence against children, particularly the sexual harassment and abuse of minors in schools, in the family and in the communityThe government, together with its cooperation partners and with civil society organisations launched a four year campaign to protect children, under the slogan: “It mustn’t be accepted: zero tolerance for the sexual abuse of children”. The campaign seeks to end the culture of silence and indifference towards all forms of violence against minors, and to provide a healthy and safe learning environment for children at school.At the launch ceremony, Education Minister Zeferino Martins said that the government “vehemently repudiates the abominable and inhuman acts perpetrated against our children, and reaffirms its commitment to launch a battle against the phenomenon and to build a school environment in our country that is tranquil, healthy and safe”.He explained that this is a campaign against silence and inertia, which makes it necessary to speak about violence against children, and about sexual abuse in the schools, at home, and in the community.Society, he added, needed to understand the psychological, education and economic consequences of violence, the low self-esteem, the poor school performance and often the abandonment which child victims of violence suffer.
“Our action against these evils must be permanent and consistent”, Martins said. “We must fight negative attitudes and practices with courage and perseverance”.A survey undertaken by the Ministry of Education in 2008 showed how shocking the problem of sexual abuse is in Mozambican schools. An astonishing 70 per cent of the 900 girl students interviewed said that male teachers made passing a grade conditional on sexual relations – and that many of the girls consented under this pressure.
The study concluded that pupils who suffer sexual abuse or other forms of violence do not know who to turn to in the school to denounce these cases. Shame and the fear of reprisals keep them silent.Police statistics show that the number of cases of violence and sexual abuse against children denounced to the authorities is around 5,000 a year, but it is feared that this is only the tip of a very large iceberg. Martins said that, in order for the campaign to be successful, all stakeholders in Mozambican society must become involved – including teachers, parents and guardians, members of school councils, community, traditional and religious leaders, cooperation partners and civil society organisations. The deputy representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Mozambique, Roberto de Bernardi, guaranteed continued support to the Ministry of Education in preventing violence against children and urged other organisations to do the same.“Mozambique is taking measures to combat this serious situation”, he said. “The country knows what needs to be done”.