Brave 12-year-old Robi (not her real name) called the Helpline and reported her father who wanted her to undergo Female Genital Cutting (FGC). Robi had refused and wanted the Helpline to link her up with the Masanga Association which has played a key role in raising awareness and preventing many girls from undergoing FGC. The Chl-Counsellor praised Robi for her courage and dutifully contacted our colleagues at Masanga.
A few days later, we made a follow-up and were glad that Robi had made it safely to Masanga. We confirmed with the people there and they assured us that she could stay until the FGC season ended later in the month.
We also made contact with the Social Welfare Officer and the Local Government Authorities who agreed to take point and visit her home, talk to her parents and check whether the environment will be safe for Robi to return and if not, then she would continue to stay at the center in Masanga until they could safely reunite her with her family.
FGC is still a recurring issue in our country. We as child protection stakeholders still have major roles to play in order to eradicate. Young girls like Robi need to feel empowered so that they can continuously stand for their rights.
The helpline handles approximately 169,154 cases of Violence, Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation (VANE); Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (OCSEA); and Child Maintenance & Custody in a year. About 18.4% of these, are cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Kwa maoni na ushauri tupigie simu namba 116 ambayo ni maalumu kwa huduma za mtoto nchini. Huduma hii haitozi malipo toka mitandao yote nchini. Vilevile unaweza kutupata kupitia ukurasa wetu wa Facebook: Sema Tanzania; Twitter: @SemaTanzania na www.sematanzania.org
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