Aids cure beliefs fuel child rape in Zambia

By SHAPI SHACINDA

LUSAKA - A myth is fuelling a heinous crime across southern Africa.

It goes like this: if you want to succeed at work or cure yourself of Aids, you need to have sex with a minor or one of your own children.

The result has been a surge in reported cases of child rape, particularly in Zambia, a scourge that has shaken this deeply Christian country of 10 million people to its core.

About one in five Zambian adults has the HIV virus that leads to Aids; around 22 million people in the whole southern African region are infected.

Almost every day, Zambian newspapers carry chilling tales of child rape -- tales that are depressingly familiar to readers of the South African press, where the only consolation may lie in the fact that they are not quite so frequent.

Zambian Vice President Nevers Mumba says the crime has become a serious problem, with more than 400 cases recorded between January and June 2003, up from 238 in the same period last year.

Some blame traditional healers, whom most people turn to for medical advice, not least because so few can afford a doctor.

"Traditional healers are misleading some rapists that HIV infection can be reversed if a man has sex with a minor... it is a tragedy and something that is endangering the lives of our children," said Ireen Nkunda, a counsellor for abused children at a Lusaka-based Young Women Christian Association (YWCA).

Nkunda said the YWCA handled 110 cases of child rape between January and September of this year.

"Once we had a case of a father who raped his one-and-half-year-old baby," she said.

Rodwell Vongo, head of the Traditional Healers Association of Zambia, denies any wrong-doing by his members.

"Our members cannot mislead people in such a manner...we have been educating them not to mislead people that they can cure Aids," Vongo said.

Nkunda said a study had found that some men rape their children after visiting traditional healers who advise them to have sex with a daughter or young female relative to boost profits in their businesses.

"Some men also believe that they will get promoted at their place of work if they have sex with a minor...our children are not safe because rapists are now within our families," she said.

In September, the story of an 11-year-old girl who died after being raped repeatedly by her half-brother prompted a national awakening on the subject.

Police spokeswoman Brenda Muntemba blamed "weak laws" for the increasing child rape cases.

"There is nothing the police can do if an offender is arrested and appears before court where he is then given bail. Our court system and even the prisons (service) need serious reforms," Muntemba said.

Legal Affairs Minister George Kunda said the government was re-drafting the Rape Act to introduce severe sentences for child rape.

Most people convicted of child rape are sentenced to somewhere between three months and five years -- not nearly long enough, according to child welfare advocates.

"We are reforming all laws on sexual offences, especially those relating to child rape...we want to provide for serious sentences that will deter would-be offenders," Kunda said.

Activists say the government is all talk and no action.

"Child rapists need to be caged...we plan to picket parliament everyday when it resumes its sittings (in October) until they introduce amendments to the laws," said Lumba Siyanga, spokeswoman for Women for Change, Zambia's leading women's rights group.

Miriam Chipimo, an adolescent and reproductive health specialist at Zambia's Central Board of Health, said children who have been raped face many problems.

"It is distressing to see what damage is caused to children ...some are infected with HIV, their (future) fertility is affected and some are brought to the hospitals with full blown Aids after being raped by parents," Chipimo said.

The law stipulates that no one should be subjected to HIV tests and so when a child is raped, the accused cannot be tested, Chipimo added.

- REUTERS