The young girls in this video speak for themselves far more eloquently than I could. Heartbreaking.
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Words fail me. Sad, heartrbreaking, attrotious, etc. Who stands to gain from this? None, I believe. It’s like a thief who breaks into a store, hauls lots of money and stuff. Doesn’t get caught right away but must live with the fear of being cuaght, and punished…some day.
I believe the root cause is in living in communities where individuals are invisible, they are anonymous, can do wrong but won’t feel shame because nobdy knows them and they don’t know anybody either. They don’t feel shame for what they do. Or do they have their heads in the sands? Shame is the most effective corrective power in communities where people know each other and care about each other. They are constrained from doing wrong because they are ostracized if they do wrong.
I also believe the perpetrators live in a world without values. They have no rules to break. In my small Zambian community, it is taboo, it’s regarded as witchcraft for an old man to sleep with a young girl, and young men are warned they will contract a health condition known as sila (sleeping sickness) if they sleep with older women. Fear of breaking a taboo and of catching a terrible disease control behavior more effectively than any form of modern law enforcement. Organizations working to deal with this terrible situation should take apause and consider the root cause instead of dealing with the symptoms.
You are right Vukani, above all what organisations dealing with this issue need to do (and a lot f them do) is to know where they are working, is to ask for advice, to go in with humility if they are not from the area and to work with the people in that area.