Experience of the Sexually Abused Street Children. A Case of One of the Cities in Tanzania

Abstract

This study is about the experiences of the sexually abused street children in one of the cities in Tanzania. The study makes use of the data from 34 respondents. A questionnaire, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. The findings show that the sexually abused street children have experienced all types of sexual encounters, with rape and sodomy being the common type of sexual abuse. The maximum number of times an individual child has been sexually abused is 9 times and a minimum is at least once, but many were sexually violated multiple times. Contracting infectious diseases and pains and swelling of the genital are the most prevalent effects. In terms of Perceptions on the sexually abused street children, while the social welfare officers and the nurses are neutral, the police are negative. While the services offered at the police gender desk are somehow satisfactory, the post violence services are not user-friendly, and the community virtually offers no support. When the sexually abused street children presented themselves where they were supposed to get some support, generally they did not receive any sort of help.