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December 1, 1998 |
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Homosexuals prowl Zambian Streets Henry Chilufa reports on alleged sexual abuse of street children in Lusaka by homosexuals LUSAKA, Zambia A kid, clad in tattered and faded jeans staggers past the early morning crowds along Lusaka's main Cairo Road. The fatigue on his face is conspicuous, as he struggles to overcome the pain inflicted on his bottom, ++bruised++ by the night long sexual molestation by two or more homosexuals. The eight-year old boy is just one of the scores of Lusaka's street kids who have fallen victims to city's latest craze -- homosexuality. The boy, Adam Mwape, admitted to being sexually molested, almost on daily basis, by a number of homosexuals, including fellow street kids. According to him, the homosexuals prowl the streets at night to lure the street kids into sex in exchange for money and other gifts. "Depending on the type of customer, we are given good money, enough to see you through for a week. If I am given 10,000 kwacha that is good enough money for me to eat for a week from the city's market," Mwape says. (1 US dollar = 2,500 kwacha) Some street kids were recently quoted by the local press as confirming that homosexuality was also rife among themselves and that usually the younger boys were the most vulnerable. "I am used by men," one street kid, identifying himself only as Chanda, told reporters. "Many other boys on the streets are also involved and benefit from this type of life." According to the boys, they feel inhibited to report to the police for fear of reprisals from the older boys and so as not to "bite the hand that feeds them." The problem has allegedly reached such alarming proportions that the Zambian government, through the youth and child development ministry, has decided to step in. The ministry's director of child affairs, John Zulu, said recently that the ministry would undertake a research on the street children to establish causes and find solutions to problems like homosexuality. Fountain of Hope, a non-governmental organisation currently looking after 400 street kids in Lusaka, has welcomed the proposed government intervention which would assist to find a long term solution. "For a long time the street kids have been offered nothing much more than an occasional meal and a shirt or a pair of shorts and promises of more assistance," the organisation's director, Roger Mwewa, said. Among the vocal campaigners for the protection of street kids from sexual molestation include the local media which has called for timely action to nip the scourge in the bud. The state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper in an editorial recently warned that the problem needed to be "tackled decisively" before it gets out of hand. "The sexual abuse the children are being exposed to while society looks on or looks away is a matter that cannot be washed away. Society can stand aloof only at its own peril," it said. "These children could turn into maniacs whose targets would spread beyond the confines of their trenches which they use as bedrooms. It does not have to come to this but it will if much is not done to stop it," it added. About half out Zambia's estimated 3,000 street kids, including girls, live in Lusaka. Of these only slightly over 400 are currently under official care by NGOs. The Young Women Christian Association confirmed that the number of children being sexually abused in communities was on the increase. Its regional director, Phosile Sichinga, recently reported that the organisation had recorded a total number of 36 different types of sexual abuses between April and October. About half the cases are said to have been perpetrated by the victims family members, including fathers, step-fathers, grandfathers, brothers-in-law and other relatives. The organisation plans to open a "child in crisis centre" in Lusaka to provide counselling to sexually abused children and their families. The centre would also sensitize families and communities on children rights. Several homosexuals in the country recently came out in the open and formed an association which the government has vowed not allow because this would be promoting what it has described as "alien and beastly culture." © PANA
an Electronic Mail & Guardian publication
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