JOHANNESBURG, 28 March (IRIN): A rights NGO has warned that a proposed a bridge across the Zambezi River in central Mozambique would not only bring economic prosperity to the region, but also pose a real threat of child prostitution and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The 2,3 kilometer bridge connecting the towns of Caia in Sofala province and Chimuara in Zambezia would result in the influx of “a large army of men without their wives and with money to spend, which has spread concern among many local adults and children,” said Chris McIvor, Mozambique programme director of Save the Children UK.
Caia and Chimuara are located in provinces with HIV/AIDS prevalence rates of more than 20 percent and a history of truck drivers exploiting women and children, which has heightened the concerns of health and social workers in the region, said Save the Children UK and its Norway-based counterpart.
Two years of research by the child rights organisation showed that weak family structures in the chronically poor communities along the Zambezi had created a “particularly dangerous” environment for children.
After 14 years of peace, the towns have yet to recover from the impact of nearly two-decade long civil war that displaced thousands of families and undermined family and community support networks, said Save the Children in its report, “A Bridge Across the Zambezi: What needs to be done for children?”
Researchers found that chronic poverty and food insecurity forced more than 70 percent of the regions children to work to help support their families; almost 40 percent suffered chronic malnutrition because they could only afford to eat one meal a day; they were vulnerable to abuse at the hands of outsiders brought in by infrastructure projects in the region and had been exploited in the past.
Girls aged between 14 and 17 had abandoned family and school to live with the staff of an electrification plant in Chimuara.
“At first, boys who went to the camps would do small jobs and run simple errands for the workers. The girls would often go and cook and clean there. Eventually, the girls were giving sexual services to the men for a bit of money. It is understood that girls have two responsibilities as domestic servants at the camps: cooking and cleaning, and sex work. There was no way to prevent girls visiting these camps. Where there are opportunities, the girls will go with the men,” the report quoted a local teenager as saying.
Most disturbing was the culture and prevalence of sexual abuse in the informal settlements or “barracas” on the either side of the river. The ferry service across the river is generally overloaded, often causing truck drivers stay overnight at the barracas, which have developed into centres of child sex abuse and exploitation.
According to a 12-year-old girl quoted in the report, “Many young girls in this area “chat” with men. They get pregnant and make abortions here at the river. There is no playground here. Sometimes we play rope games, but some girls do not want to play and come to the river looking for men. They do not know how to use condoms and do not want to go to school.
The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among children has increased in both towns. The head nurse in Chimuara told the NGO that children as young as 12 years with STDs visited the clinic in 2005, whereas in 2004 the youngest child found with an STD had been 15 years old.
Mozambican law is inadequate in terms of protecting children from sexual abuse, exploitation and prostitution. National laws concentrate more on possible penal sanctions for certain sexual offences, and often are not properly implemented, said the NGO. According to a UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) study, there is no law that criminalises child prostitution, except where parents are instrumental in selling their children.
The construction of the bridge linking the northern and southern parts of the country will bring much needed jobs and access to better healthcare to both towns, Save the Children acknowledged.
But the fact that it will take at least three years to build has sparked concern among residents that the transmission and spread of HIV/AIDS and STDs will increase, affecting workers and local communities.
– None of these negative consequences are inevitable if action is taken now to put in place measures to mitigate against these impacts, said McIvor. He has suggested recruiting local workers “where possible, as it will make the community more integrated” and less vulnerable to abuse or exploitation.
To help avoid the promotion of a sex industry in the towns, the NGO has recommended allowing workers to visit their families regularly, and noted that the government had made it mandatory for the construction company involved to promote HIV/AIDS awareness programmes in the region.
Kilde: FN-bureauet IRINnews
