MUTARE– A traditional leader has urged the government to take a bold stance against social media harassment by criminalizing online bullying which is targeting the girl child, to curb rising cases of online abuse.
Chief Mutasa made these remarks at a belated commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child in Mutare yesterday, organized by the Plan International in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth.
The International Day of the Girl Child is commemorated annually under the United Nations on October 11, this year’s provincial commemorations ran under the theme ‘let there be freedom for girls online’
Mutasa, who is the first local traditional chief to be appointed a gender champion and an advocate against child marriages said the law, must be firmer to protect girls from abuse online as learning has been pushed to the internet.
In a hard-hitting address against violators, Mutasa said the only remedy to discourage the abuse of social media, peddling of explicit content, bullying and harassment of girls online are stiff cybersecurity laws which criminalize certain acts.
“The coming in of social media has its advantages but also its disadvantages as there are some unruly elements who are also abusing social media.
“When these elements abuse the media it has an effect on a lot of persons, but in particular the girls child it is even pushing them into suicides because of the wide reach of the social media.
“We are saying the social mediums must not be used to harm others, we urge the government to come up with strict laws that criminalize certain activities and postings that come on social media, to curb this there is need for a firm hand,” said Chief Mutasa.
Chief Mutasa said there is a misnomer when the term of child marriage was coined, as a child cannot legally consent to marriage, as he urged for the law to be harmonized to reflect constitutional provisions that outlaw child marriages.
“As traditional leaders, we are saying let the girl child grow into her full potential, we have warned parents against marrying off girls under the guise of the Covid 19 lockdown hardships.
“The term child marriage itself is a misnomer the right term should be child abuse because a child cannot consent to marriage so its child abuse under the guise of marriage, this should be stopped,” he said.
Plan International, representative Precious Babbage said their work seeks to advance the rights of children, equality for girls and to advocate for the fulfilment and enjoyment of their rights.
She said social media harassment has reared its ugly head due to proliferation of online learning during the COVID-19 era including initiation into pornography, Satanism, body shaming and bullying among other vices.
“Involvement of children in online platforms have gradually increased, there has been the advent of e-Learning, children are spending more time on online platforms but unfortunately this has also increased social media harassment.
“These abuses are affecting the girl child more than the boys, some of them are even turning suicidal we need to discourage social media harassment. Young girls deserve respect dignity and have the same rights as everyone else,” she said.
