Laws against rising child abuse tightened

Tanzania is taking steps to tighten laws protecting children following a rise in incidents of child abuse, The East African reports. Officials say they will tighten penalties in the Child Act to enforce legal provisions that would protect Tanzanian children from violence in different forms, mostly at family levels. Dr Dorothy Gwajima, the Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women & Special Groups, says a special task force has been formed to work closely with the Director of Public Prosecutions in reviewing the Act for proper amendment. The task force will work with other stakeholders to ensure that children are protected from the effects of digital transformations. Gwajima said available data shows that 40% of cases of violence against children occur in schools and 60% from outside the learning environment, mostly in families and residential areas. ‘The Ministry plans to spend Tsh177m ($75.9m) on this task that will be carried out in the current fiscal year 2022 / 2023,’ she added. Data from the Tanzania Police Force indicates that 27 369 children were exposed to various kinds of violence between 2020 and 2022, making an average of 1 140 child abuse actions per month. The UN Children's Fund has also teamed up with the media, children rights activists and the Government of Tanzania to push for further steps aimed at protecting children from violence. The latest data from the Ministry of Community Development shows that Tanzania has more than 800 000 street children in various cities.