THE Government has warned that it will not hesitate to dismiss anybody abusing girls in schools.
Education Minister Dora Siliya said addressing issues girls face in schools, particularly pertaining to violence within the school system was a priority for the ministry.
Ms Siliya said this on Thursday evening in Lusaka in a speech read on her behalf by Education Deputy Minister Richard Taima at a cocktail party organised by Tisunge Ana Athu Akazi Coalition (TAAAC) and Equality Now.
“In addition, the Government’s policy of instant dismissal and referral to law enforcement agencies for any Ministry of Education official found to have misconducted himself or herself is very clear,” Ms Siliya said.
The United Nations Trust Fund has given TAAAC about US$1 million for the fight against abuse of women and girls for a period of three years.
Ms Siliya said the ministry had also put in place measures and guidelines to ensure confidentiality of those who report cases of violence in schools.
She said the social and economic costs resulting from the abuse of women and girls’ rights placed a substantial burden on society as a whole.
The minister said preventing violence against women and girls was a key contribution to achieving most of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and reducing poverty.
She said gender-based violence, particularly rape of minors, was one of the major threats to women and children in Zambia, with girls especially at risk.
For that reason, any initiative aimed at securing justice for girls who experience sexual abuse was welcome, she added.
Gender in Development Division Deputy Minister Lucy Changwe said the ministry was concerned about the continuing violence against women and girls, and that the ministry was in the process of formulating a gender-based violence Bill.
Equality Now New York office deputy executive director, Yasmeen Hassan said the formulation of TAAAC was a step in the right direction.
Ms Hassan said that was a positive step for Zambia because it would highlight the dangers of gender based violence.
Any teacher who abuses young innocent girls should get an instant dismissal….
Good reasoning………………………………siliya:d/:d/:d/:d/:d/:d/
mmmm imwe avaiche they are growing laka these days. tumavele by 13 ninshi natuyima. but anyway fi law ni fi law bane. deuces bane:)>- iye i think i am gettin drunk bane
walai blogging live from london pub
Yeah good advice. I remember one teacher in secondary school who even boasted that all the girls we were in the same grade with were now too ripe for us the guys.He suggested that we(boys in class)should wait for the grade seven results to be out from which we can choose our girlfriends from.He was like “temasize yenu aya baiche abene ma size yandi and ama guys ku UNZA mwachepa”.I wasnt even surprised that the guy ended up marrying my classmate by the time our grade twelve final results were out.:-?
iwe numba 4 mwakula nomba. isnt it true what he was saying? think about it. deuces you ka zoba watch with mo tym :)>-
walai blogging live from london pub on way to get hiv test with the fellaz
what about the boys, if they are abused them there will be no penalty
Dora is implementing good policies. You go sister!
Mr C used to be a secondary teacher who impregnated one of his grade 9 school pupil.. her family forced him to marry her which he did and fathered 7 children for her, a few years on he was promoted to become a headmaster! I wonder what he does to the school girls at his school now:-?
This is old talk, year in and year out the girl child is still being molested by evil sinister teachers while the government looks the other way. And its not only in schools where this is happening, its playing out on the streets of our country while we stand akimbo just looking. You recall the case of the whole entire Paramountain Chief Mpezeni raping a secondary school girl and getting away with it! He should have been dethroned, castrated and executed to teach all a lesson that regardless of your status in life, you abuse a child and you will be lynched by the law of the land.
any one found abusing a girl child KUPUTULAKOFYE JOHN YAKWE
vitendeni chabe