GIVE a voice to exploited children with disabilities in Tanzania
In Tanzania, many girls undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The practice is illegal, yet approximately 7.9 million women and girls in Tanzania have undergone the ritual. In the Tarime district in the north, 75% of girls aged 9 to 17 undergo Female Genital Mutilation annually.
Girls with disabilities are easy targets; they are often hidden in their homes and subjected to sexual violence. Together with our partner ATFGM, in the GIVE project we give a voice to exploited children with disabilities so that they can stand up for themselves.
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Lydia Kaugi
programme coordinator TanzaniaA lot has been achieved in the fight against child exploitation and abuse due to negative traditional practices in Tanzania’s lake zone. A lot more is needed to ensure that children develop themselves in a safe environment free from all forms of child exploitation.
Background
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a form of gender-based violence. FGM is illegal in Tanzania, but the Kuria people of the north still consider it an important cultural practice. In the Mara region, where the Tarime district is located, various traditional norms and values strongly oppress women and girls. These oppressive norms hinder the sexual reproductive and health rights of girls and often bring an unsafe environment for all children.
In addition, discrimination of girls and boys with a disability is structurally entrenched in Tanzanian society. Many of them live invisibly in isolation with their relatives. They are often kept indoors, out of sight. Interaction with peers or adults in whom they could confide, is limited. The stigma surrounding disability prevents families, communities and authorities from taking the rights and needs of these children seriously.
Tanzanian children with a disability are vulnerable to violence, especially children with albinism and those with autism. They lack access to education, child protection and medical, psychosocial, legal and other services, including reporting mechanisms.
Problems
Children with a disability face multiple, interlinked problems in Tanzania:
Female Genital Mutiliation (FGM) and other forms of sexual exploitation
Female Genital Mutiliation (FGM) and other forms of sexual exploitation, such as rape, child/forced marriage, sexual assault, exploitation and abuse.
Lack of adequate protection
Lack of adequate protection from FGM and related forms of exploitation; since there is little recent and reliable data due to the often hidden existence of children with a disability, programmes that focus on their protection are under-prioritised and poorly financed.
No or low cover for disability issues
No or low cover for disability issues; due to limited awareness of existing conventions, national laws and policies on disability, while existing funding for child protection has been reallocated to curb Covid-19 during the pandemic.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, when girls lacked the protective environment of school and the watchful eyes of the teachers who identify and refer children with special needs.
Weak protection structures
Weak protection structures for children with a disability at community level, such as community-based parent support groups that can help address isolation and shame; while stigma has resulted in a lack of information on how to best assist and empower children with a disability.
Goals
We continue our previous efforts on FGM in the same area.
From the community interactions held during that project, we have learnt that many children with disabilities are hidden in their homesteads and therefore run a double risk. In the current project we specifically focus on children with a disabiliy.
Our overall objective is to amplify voices of children with a disability in Mara region. We aim to enable them to access inclusive child protection services, by:
To give exploited children with a disability a voice in northern Tanzania, our approach includes the following activities:
With children with a disability
- Train children and representatives of student assemblies on disability needs identification, lobby and advocacy skills
- Mobilise children with a disability in a network for psychosocial support and link it to the National Council for Persons with Disabilities
- Train children with a disability as peer educators and champions on disabilities, anti-FGM and anti child marriage
With local structures in Tarime district
- Operationalise grassroots committees for people with a disability and train local organisations on safeguarding children with a disability
- Sensitising local community leaders on the protection of children with a disability from harmful traditional practices
- Organise a national advocacy platform for local, regional and national level actors to develop an advocacy plan for children with a disability
- Support the lobby to include children with disability data and analysis in the 2022 national Population and Housing Census
With the government
- Raise awareness among government departments on the plight of children with disabilities in the context of FGM and child marriage
- Train government officials on disabilities inclusion and support the local government in Tarime district to develop bylaws for inclusive planning and service provision for children with a disability
- Support lobby and advocay activities to include the protection of children with a disability from trafficking and harmful practices in the National Plan of Action addressing violence against women and children
- Commit the government to implement policies that will guarantee protection against FGM and child marriage
Approach
The GIVE project will be implemented by our partner, the Association for Termination of Female Genital Mutilation (ATFGM) in close cooperation with SHIVYAWATA (the federation of people with disabilities) and the department of Social Welfare.
Partner
Terre des Hommes Netherlands is partners with ATFGM
The Association for the Termination of Female Genital Mutilation (ATFGM) was established in response to the concerns of several parents of the KurIa community who did not want their daughters to be mutilated. Girls themselves came to ask for protection as well, since they did not want to undergo the forced Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). ATFGM helps to educate the community, promotes respect of human dignity and human rights, with the ultimate goal to, together with the government, bring positive change and eradicate FGM.