The government has engaged churches as part of efforts to discourage young girls against immoral activities following a notable rise in older men preying on young girls.
Speaking at the launch of Council Churches for Africa Women’s Fellowship, Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister, Sithembiso Nyoni urged mothers to keep a hawk’s eye on their young girls as they have become easy prey for unscrupulous older men who lure them with money.
“We need the church to lead us so that the country is in order. The nation is as good as its spiritual leaders. So we need you to lead us so that God can intervene and help our children, especially in homes so that there is peace,” Nyoni said.
“I want to know if you as mothers know that during the ZITF we were seeing young girls going into hotels with old men enough to be their fathers or grandfathers.
“Therefore, we need you, women, in churches to help us fight this off because that is what is leading to cases of early child marriages and gender-based violence,” she added.
Nyoni called on women in churches to spread the gospel while also leading in the protection of children from immoral activities.
The meeting ran under the theme ‘Parents as good shepherds, celebrating the warm nurturing hands, love, heartfelt life, and caring minds.’
