Father Forces Self On Daughter (15)

Mavis 16 (not her real name) was impregnated by her father (name withheld) at the age of 15.

She is now eight months pregnant and has no clue on what her future holds after she dropped out of school due to the unplanned pregnancy.

Her efforts to get the pregnancy terminated hit a brick wall after doctors who examined her said it was too late for the procedure to be conducted since she revealed her ordeal after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

“I was raped by my father at home during the night while my mother was away,” she said with tears rolling down her cheeks.

“My mother had gone to acquire a birth record for my younger sister at Makoni in Chitungwiza, and she failed to return the same day after she was advised to come the following day, hence she decided to sleep at our aunt’s place.

“That night, my father called me to his bedroom and asked me whether I was still a virgin or not. I admitted that I had never slept with any man in my life and he said he wanted to see it for himself.”

Speaking in the presence of a child friendly counsellor, Mrs Dadirai Yakobi, from Shamwari YeMwanasikana, Mavis felt free to pour her heart out after counselling and being comforted.

“My father suddenly increased the volume of the radio, switched off the lights and rap€d me once and it was the last day of my menstrual cycle,” she said. “I later joined my young sisters who were sleeping in the other room, but I did not reveal what had transpired due to fear and confusion.

“I just told the other young sister of mine that I wanted her to accompany me to my grandmother’s residence. We arrived there early in the morning and I just told her that my father asked me whether I was a virgin or not, but I was hesitant to reveal the rape.”

Mavis said her grandmother asked her if her father had rap€d her, but she insisted he did not.

“After the rap€ my father vehemently warned me against telling anyone about the issue,” she said. “He only said he would keep on watching me and if ever I said anything about it he would do something, but could not reveal what exactly, hence I was now living in fear.

“Even after we left grandma’s house he even told me that he was aware that I told her, but I felt safe because I had not revealed everything.”

Mavis said her mother later returned and she told her the same statement that she had told her grandmother without revealing that she had also been raped that same night.

“The day I came back from Makoni, my daughter told me that her father had asked her whether she was still a virgin or not and that he want to bring a new wife home,” said Mavis’ mother. “I thought that the father was just asking as a way of jealously guarding her daughter since she is our first child.

“I did not ask her more questions only to learn that there was more to it after I realised that she was pregnant some few months later. I noticed her protruding belly and I asked her whether she had a boyfriend or not, but she said no.”

The mother said Mavis cried a lot and later revealed that it was her own father who raped and impregnated her.

“I could not believe that because when I left the children in the custody of their father, I thought they were in good hands,” she said. “I called my mother and she came on the same day accompanied by police officers and my husband was arrested.

“It was during the Covid-19 lockdown and whenever we went to court we were told that there was no magistrate. We were later called by a police officer who informed us that they were now releasing him because it was not fair to keep him in custody without trial.”

She said they were informed by the police that Mavis was supposed to give birth first to enable DNA tests to be conducted.

“We are now waiting that she gives birth any time soon and the tests would be done,” she said. “My daughter took long to reveal that she was raped, her pregnancy could have been terminated because there are laws that guide that.

“Maybe she was afraid of the father. I had a torrid time of trying to put her on the comfort zone so she could reveal everything and from day one she just mentioned her father and no one else.”

The mother said she decided to divorce her husband because of the rap€ and she took all her six children to her mother’s two roomed house where they are now living.

“Her father married me at the age of 14 and he has impregnated her daughter at the age of 15,” she said. “He is a paedophile indeed and I hope and pray that justice will prevail. My mother is now 53 years old and is working as a maid in Harare to fend for us and other grandchildren.

“I wish I could get any job to relieve my mother from this burden. My mother also gave birth to me at that age of 15. I think we are a cursed generation.”

In Zimbabwe, being intimate with a minor is illegal, even if they would have consented to the act.

The crime is regarded as statutory rape. In addition to this, having a s€xual relationship within a prohibited level of relationship (incest) is also a crime in the country.

The director for Shamwari Yemwanasikana — a girl child support programme — Mrs Ekenia Chifamba, said most acts of violence had gender aspects to them.

“The vast majority of acts of violence against women are perpetrated by men who have some sort of relationship with the victims be it in an intimate relationship, a working relationship or an acquaintance relationship,” she said.

“Children need to be protected at all costs. We are carrying out awareness programmes in schools and communities, including the hard to reach areas, teaching girls on abstinence and how to report when they are abused. Many child abuse cases are reported late when most of the evidence would have been eroded, resulting in some accused persons being acquitted in the courts of law.”

She said it was important to keep the girl child in school where they are protected and pre-occupied by school work which assists in delaying s€xual debut.

“Early pregnancies can result in obstetric fistulas just because the women’s s€xual reproductive system would have not fully developed to give birth,” she said.

According to the World Health Organisation, each year between 50 000 to 100 000 women worldwide are affected by obstetric fistula, an abnormal opening between a woman’s genital tract and her urinary tract or rectum.

The development of obstetric fistula is directly linked to one of the major causes of maternal mortality: obstructed labour.

Mr Peter Maponda, a traditionalist, said there were some self-styled traditional healers and prophets who encouraged people to commit sexual offenses with young people on the pretext that they will get rich.

“The Government should take stern measures on such people, they should be arrested and be given a lengthy custodial sentence because there are no riches that can be acquired through s€xually abusing minors, your own children, persons with albinism, among others,” he said.

“Such acts also fuel the spread of HIV and it is robbing the children of their future.”

Recently, the Swedish Government through UNICEF supported the Government with US$5,8 million for child protection programmes.

Swedish Ambassador Ms Asa Pehrson said: “Worldwide, children experience various forms of violence, exploitation and, abuse. It happens in every country and even in places children should be most protected — their homes and schools. Violence against children can be physical, emotional, or sexual. The Covid–19 pandemic has shown us that children can experience online violence. And in many cases, children suffer at the hands of the people they trust.”

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Simon Masanga, said the five areas that are critical to protect children include: access to response services for the most vulnerable children through the National Case Management System, prevention of violence against children and gender based violence through interventions that address harmful practices, social and gender norms and birth registration services and legal and regulatory framework improvements.

On the 20th of November 1989, the General Assembly of the United Nations, unanimously adopted the convention on the Rights of the Child.

This convention states that: “The state shall protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents or others responsible for child care and establish appropriate social programmes for the prevention of child abuse and treatment of victims (Article. 19), and the state shall protect the child from sexual exploitation, prostitution and Involvement in pornography (Article 34).”

Zimbabwe is a signatory to the convention and it began to work on examining the ways in which its laws reflected and protected children’s rights.

In 1992, Zimbabwe drew up a National Action Plan for Children.

In the Children’s Act, any person under the age of 18 is considered a child, which conforms to the legal age of majority — a milestone that Zimbabweans celebrate after the age of consent to sex was uplifted from 16 to 18 following a public outcry.

S€xual offences against children also include indecent assault, sodomy, incest and abduction.

Fathers, though known by different names, are intrinsically similar. They are first super heroes and for a girl, they are the prince charming she will always fall back on.

But it appears many of the fathers are failing to live up to this positive image.

The question that begging for an answer is: Why are these cases of fathers raping their daughters appearing to be rampant?

In April 2016, a 42-year-old man from Seke, raped his daughter (16) three times at knife-point and impregnated her and was jailed for 14 years.

In May 2021, a 60-year-old man from Chief Matibe’s area in Beitbridge was jailed for 20 years for repeatedly raping his 18-year-old daughter until she fell pregnant.

In February 2019, a 50-year-old man was brought before a Mutare magistrate facing charges of raping his 22-year-old daughter each time she had an epileptic seizure, resulting in pregnancy.

These are only a few examples, many other such cases are dealt with by the courts regularly.

Herald