Sexual abuse perpetrators deserve severe punishment, says a psychologist

Eleven young girls from Gitega central province and six others from Cibitoke western province are reported to have been sexually abused by two teachers from those provinces. A psychologist talks of an ignoble behavior that needs to be strongly discouraged in the society.

Young girls who have been sexually abused are between 3 and 16 years old.

In Buganda Commune of Cibitoke Province, a teacher at Kaburantwa primary school, in his thirties, would have sexually abused six young girls from the same family. They have between 3 and 16 years of age. Their mother feels desperate about their future. “I don’t know what to do. We heard that the alleged perpetrator of the crime might be HIV positive”, says the mother, when she was at “Centre Seruka” waiting for the results of the test for the children. She says the presumed criminal is their neighbor. “I don’t know if he sexually abused my kids”, she says.

The same scene has previously happened in Gitega province. At “la bergeonnette” primary school, a 59 year old teacher has been accused of having sexually abused his students. Over 16 young girls were brought by their parents to a center for sexual abuse victims, Humura, for test.

Jean Bosco Ndayishimiye, a psychologist and lecturer at the University says collective sexual abuse is not only related to psychology but also to the current situation. “The perpetrators of the crime would be sexually obsessed or just sexual perverts”, he says.

Ndayishimiye says “heartless” people take advantage of their positions to abuse innocent young girls. “They may buy sweet things to attract the young girls”, he says.

“Consequences are numerous”

Jean Bosco Ndayishimiye says the victims would be infected with HIV/AIDS given that the serological condition of the presumed criminals is not yet known. “Moreover, the reproductive organs of the victims would have been damaged as they weren’t mature yet”, he says.

For this, parents, teachers and administrative officials must intervene to avoid that the victims suffer social stigma. “They have been physically and psychologically affected. There is a need to prevent any suicidal act or any deviant behavior”, he says.

Ndayishimiye says severe measures should be taken, if not, other teachers will commit the same crime. A child sexual abuse crime is punishable by between 15 and 25 year jail sentence.

Ferdinand Simbaruhije, Secretary General for the Federation of Associations Defending Children’s Rights (Fenaded) calls on parents to regularly interact with their children in an open way. “There are factors like poverty, degradation, unhealthy relationship between spouses etc. that need to be tackled in the family to prevent any unwanted act from happening”, says Simbaruhije.

Some centers against gender based violence say the figures of sexual abuse are high. The “Seruka Centre” recorded 1288 cases of gender based violence in 2016, among them 20% children under 5 years and 67% youths under 18. In Cibitoke western Province, the Family Development Centre identified 1414 cases of gender based violence in 2016. Among them, 215 cases of sexually abused persons.