Six out of ten girls were sexually assaulted in Maputo – study

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Six out of ten girls were sexually assaulted in Maputo – study

8:47 CAT | 15 Dec 2016

O País

Six out of 10 girls have been victims of sexual violence in the city of Maputo’s public spaces, according to a study presented yesterday by the municipal council’s ‘Safe and Free of Violence City’ project.

The study conducted in the Maxaquene and Chamanculo neighbourhoods found that there is a high prevalence of violence against women and girls in the public space, estimated at 60 percent of a total 376 girls surveyed in the last 12 months.

Sexual violence in these neighbourhoods is higher among girls aged between 12 and 18 years than in women over 18 years.

The study also indicates that the places most prone to the occurrence of psychological and physical violence are the street, with 54 percent; the ‘barraca’ [tuck shop], 23 percent; and bars and discos with eight percent.

Esmeralda Mariano, a representative of the Gender Coordination Centre (CECAGE), said that 90 percent of girls do not feel safe on the streets after 10:00 PM. “High youth unemployment rates are one of the main contributors to the spread of physical and psychological violence,” Mariano says.

The meeting also witnessed the signing of a memorandum ensuring the implementation of the study recommendations between UN Women and the Maputo City Council

According to David Simango, the capital’s mayor, the results of the study improves information about the real dimension of the problem of violence against women and girls in public spaces. “And, more than that, they are launching important challenges on strategies and mechanisms to be adopted to provide an effective and efficient response to this evil,” he added.

United Nations Women’s Organisation representative Florence Raes said that efforts must be redoubled in order to reverse the current scenario of violence in the cities.

The study ends a 16-day cycle of activism aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of violence against women and girls in 20 cities around the world.

Source: O País