DAR ES SALAAM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania has created a special desk for the public to report on gender-based violence cases and child abuse incidents, allowing people to dial a toll-free number 116, an official said on Friday.
Sebastian Kitiku, Assistant Director for Children Rights and Development, announced the creation of the desk in the capital Dodoma during his presentation on the situation of gender-based violence and the national action plan to curb the vice.
He said the desk to be manned by the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children will help handle gender-based violence cases and child abuse incidents which were often not addressed at the grassroots level.
"The desk to operate 24 hours will enable responsible officials to follow up the reported cases for intervention," said Kitiku.
According to him, the creation of the desk followed complaints from community radio practitioners over failure by some authorities to cooperate whenever children and women's rights were violated.
Anna Elias, a broadcaster from Sengerema Community Radio in northwest Tanzania, said there had been some cases where some teachers impregnated schoolgirls only to be transferred from one school to the other.
"The government should help us to curb the culture of impunity where perpetrators of sexual abuse are left to go while they ruin the lives of girls," said Elias.
