Peer-reviewed article

Strategies for Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence against Children in Rombo District, Tanzania: A Mixed Method Study

Michael Reuben, Fauzia Mohamed, Felician Mutasa · 1 Jan 2021

Abstract

This paper examined the strategies for preventing and responding to sexual violence against children in Rombo district, Tanzania. Sexual violence against children (SVAC) remains a major concern in many countries across the globe and in developing countries such as Tanzania. The SVAC encompasses a range of offenses such as completed non-consensual sex acts such as rape, attempted non-consensual sex acts, abusive sexual contacts such as unwanted sexual touching and non-contact sexual abuse. Studies have been conducted to assess strategies to prevent and respond to sexual violence against children. However, studies that focus on examining the strategies and how they are used by Community Based Child Protection Mechanisms (CBCPMs) are still limited in Tanzania. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the strategies used by CB-CPMs to prevent and respond to sexual violence against children in Rombo District, Tanzania. A mixed methods study was conducted involving 158 members of CBCPMs. A total of 108 responded to a questionnaire, 4 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted involving 40 members of CBCPMs and 10 Key Informant Interviews(KIIs) were conducted to complement data collected through questionnaire. Descriptive data analysis was conducted with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 23. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic content analysis. The study concludes that awareness raising, provision of advice, communication, identification of children, referral of abused children, mapping and monitoring of children had effects on combating SVAC. The study revealed that CBCPMs have improved situation of SVAC and child protection environment in Rombo district. Therefore, study recommends that, the government should support CBCPMs through funding, monitoring and capacity building in order to strengthen their skills to combat SVAC. The study also recommends that more awareness raising should be carried out to the community in order to address sexual violence against children.