The disturbing persistence of child defilement and teenager’s pregnacies cases – RIB to the rescue

The painful facts related to child sexual abuse is not new, as we have often heard about them in the past, either from competent authorities discourses, media reports, or from talks at the community level not without feelings of concern and frustration. It goes without saying that the unfortunate consequences associated with these indescribable crimes are already a rough burden for the family and for the country, including trauma, unwanted teenager’s pregnancies, social conflicts, stigma, detention, etc.

Campaigns have been planned and conducted in this regard as they are still going on, efforts are deployed here and there in order to put a definitive end to it, schools take initiatives and RIB goes to the rescue, coming out of the offices to raise awareness in different places.This comes as hardly no day goes without a case of abuse being reported somewhere in differents parts of the country, and we can understand that these awareness initiatives aims at ruthlessly counter this infamous resurgence.

This led me to ask myself the following questions:

  • Do precedent and ongoing awareness campaigns and initiatives bring substantial results toward goals that actors intend to achieve?
  • Are they community-based and action-oriented to completely annihilate such appalling and persistent criminal acts?
  • Are multiple approaches from various stakeholders concerted, inclusives, structured and coordinated in a better efficient possible way to tackle a tricky situation involving family’ members, educators and authorities among perpetrators?
  • Are adequate human, financial and material resources mobilised to drive and support actions down to the family level?
    The RIB to the rescue

The Partner Magazine learnt that the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) is pursuing its awareness campaign across the country where its staff reach out young people in high school.

In a Program entitled “RIB Public – Partnership in Crime Prevention in High Schools” under the Theme: “My role in Combatting Child defilement, Drugs abuse, human trafficking and juvenile delinquency”, the RIB make us know that based on the findings of statistical analysis conducted by RIB especially on child defilement and other emerging crimes, a big number of victims and suspects appear to be more concentrated within young generations (14 -17 Years).

This program has specific goals which are:

  • To develop children resilience and their capacity to participate in their own protection,
  • Engaging young generations through high schools about prevention of child defilement,
  • Enhancing teacher and child knowledge and skills pertaining to crime committed by or against the younger generation, etc.