TANZANIA Gender Network Programme (TGNP) has said that collaboration between stakeholders and increased public awareness has contributed a lot to the decrease of gender based violence incidents in the country.
TGNP Coordinator Zainabu Mmari said here yesterday that people being aware of their rights has helped a lot in efforts to end such incidents.
She made the remarks during a session convened to evaluate the project tailored to reduce gender-based violence involving 32 civil society organisations from 13 regions of Mainland and one in Zanzibar.
Ms Mmari said the incidents of sexual violence will end when everyone in the society will take part in the fight to supplement the government efforts in ending the vice.
She said that TGNP has been working closely with all stakeholders in implementing the project, including children, students, women, legal entities as well as various government institutions.
“In the course of the second quarter of the year, we have seen significant progress in the fight against gender-based violence, including suspects being brought to court,” she said.
She added; “The fight against sexual violence is not a single-person operation, but the entire community needs to be involved because such violence leads to permanent disability and even death,” she elaborated.
Ms Mmari hinted that the anti-gender violence project is also being implemented by the government in collaboration with stakeholders, noting that the project has started bearing fruits.
On his side, the Director of the Voice of the Marginalised Community (TVMC), Musa Ngangala, said sexual violence has been affecting future dreams of the children because they have profound effect on their lives.
He expressed that the violence in child marriage and early pregnancy affect the dreams of many girls because after getting pregnant or married their dreams fade away.
Mr Ngangala said in order to fulfill children’s dreams, it is the responsibility of parents and guardians to protect their children from acts of rape and homosexuality because they damage the child’s dignity.