‘Mantṧali Phakoana
Leribe district has recorded the highest number of sexual assault cases in the country during the first quarter of this year, police have said.
This was revealed on Thursday last week during the commemoration of World Population Day at Ha Khabo.
A total of 51 cases were registered in the area for investigations from January to April 2023, police said.
This year’s World Population Day was commemorated under the theme, ‘Unleashing the power of gender equality; uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities.’
Speaking at the event, which was organised by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and the ministry of finance and development planning, Leribe police child and gender protection unit officer commanding, Thabetha Makara, revealed that 38 rape cases were reported in Pela-Tṧoeu area only between January and April this year.
Twenty-five of the survivors were adolescents under 18 years while the remaining 13 women were above this age.
Makara noted that 15 cases of child abuse and at least 160 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) were reported in the area during the same period.
However, some of these cases were resolved through restorative justice after police came in to encourage the perpetrators and their victims to solve their matters amicably without involving the courts.
In yet another worrying trend, 12 girls and women were abducted and forced into marriage in contravention of the Penal Code Act No: 6 of 2010, Makara said.
She indicated that four cases of attempted rape were also recorded in Pela-Tṧoeu during the first four months of this year.
“In most cases children are abused by their mothers who leave them with their fathers to go away to look for employment or when they are simply tired of being victims themselves,” she pointed out.
Such abuse violates the Children Protection Welfare Act, NO:7 of 2011.
According a recent study by Gender Links, 86 percent of Basotho women have experienced GBV in their lifetime.
On her part, United Nations Resident Coordinator, Amanda Khozi Mukwashi, said she was concerned by the high rate at which girls and women are abused, killed and raped.
Mukwashi urged parents, especially fathers, to protect their girl-children and not become their worst enemies, as they did not choose to be born.
“When you bring a child into this world, you should love and protect them. They have the right to live; that child is entitled to your love, you owe them.
“I do not how many times I have cried since I came to Lesotho, after listening to girls who narrated stories of having been impregnated by their own fathers.
“You parents of this area, this is your place. You are always here with your families, what your daughters and boys become is entirely on you,” she added.
Speaking at the same event, a local female teenager, Lerato Matlenane, emphasised that it was important for parents and communities to listen to females as they also have a right to be heard.
She also expressed concern that the rate at which children were forced into marriage at Ha Khabo was alarming.
Matlenane pointed out that one of the reasons abuse is common was that the community was failing to report such criminal acts to the police, especially where they involve village leaders.
The UNFPA also handed over the 2023 annual flagship report, the State of the World Population Report to the government.
This year’s report is titled, “8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities: The Case for Rights and Choices.”
The report, which was launched globally in April this year, asserts that when women and girls are empowered by societies to exert autonomy over their lives and bodies.
“The knock-on effect is a better, more inclusive world, well-equipped to deal with whatever demographic changes and challenges the future holds,” it says.
According to the report, World Population Day commemoration this year highlighted the need to advance gender equality to help realise the dreams of all of the eight billion population members.
The key messages were; the need to advance gender equality to create a more just, resilient and sustainable world of infinite possibilities, that gender inequality is harmful and violates the rights and choices of women and girls, that what women and girls want matters – everywhere, in development and humanitarian settings, online and offline and that investing in gender equality today is an investment in our shared future.
UNFPA statistics further show that women and girls make up 49.7 percent of the global population. Yet their desires for their lives, families and careers are often ignored in discussions on demographics and their rights violated in population policies.
The result is a world that excludes, marginalises and limits the potential of every other person on the planet – a problem that will prevent all people, not just women and girls, from experiencing a more prosperous, peaceful and sustainable future, the organisation reveals.
“Gender inequality has been identified as the root of this problem as around the world, this pervasive injustice keeps women and girls out of schools, the workforce and leadership positions; limits their agency and ability to make decisions about their health and sexual and reproductive lives; and heightens their vulnerability to violence, harmful practices and preventable maternal death,” it adds.
The commemoration at Ha Khabo featured speeches, songs and drama as well as a community dialogue on issues surrounding population.
World Population Day was first observed in 1989. The day was inspired by the public interest when the world’s population reached five billion on 11 July 1989. The event aims to raise public awareness on various population issues such as family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights.
