RECENTLY, Zambians recoiled at the news that a father had been defiling his own ailing daughter at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH).
What was surprising wasn’t the story, which is no longer news in Zambia, but the place where the hapless girl was defiled – a hospital!
This week, we carried another disgusting story where a police officer, of all the people, is alleged to have defiled two girls in Kabwe.
Like the UTH story, it is the place where the officer allegedly committed the offence – in police custody!
Other similar stories of womenfolk being raped or defiled in once ‘safe’ places like churches, convents, homes, boardrooms, etc have dominated the media.
As a media, we have been consistent in offering solutions to this scourge that is threatening our society.
Among some suggestions we have made in this paper is for Zambia to emulate European countries where it is a requirement for anyone working with children to be cleared by the police of any sex-related offence.
We are surprised that countries like Zambia, which despite having a record number of adults working with children in schools, hospitals, orphanages and even churches, has no such sex offenders record.
We feel if such a register was in place, it could address the rampant sex-related cases against minors being reported in the media.
Where it is implemented, the sex offender list has greatly helped authorities to keep track of the residence and activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences.
Our other radical suggestion to curb sex offences in the country is to introduce CCTV cameras in some institutions with a record of females.
These should include schools, police custodies, convents, orphanages, schools, cinemas, hospitals, prisons and even play parks.
In Britain, the government spends a lot of money in crime-fighting cameras. The British government last year spent £79 million on a plan to set up or expand nearly 250 CCTV schemes across England and Wales.
Among targeted places where cameras were installed were rural beauty spots, shopping centres, public transport, car parks and hospitals.
The installation of CCTV has repeatedly proved its effectiveness in the fight against crime and the fear of crime, making communities feel safer.
Knowing that there is an extra set of eyes watching over their communities helps to reassure people, especially women that they are safe.
In some countries local authority require the compulsory installation of CCTV in licensed taxis as an essential tool to deter perpetrators and help with the investigation of such incidents.
There are also requirements for landlords to install CCTV cameras inside pubs in response to the pressing need by police or concerned members of society.
The benefits usually outweigh private and family life requirements under the Human Rights Act.
Going by the number of sex offences against women, we are calling on women NGOs to implore the Government to make this measure as soon as possible before the list of victims of sex offences goes up.
We feel the time of sensitisation on rape and defilement which has dominated workshops by the concerned NGOs is over. It is now time to offer solutions on how to curb violence against women.
Much lip service has been given to this subject and we feel as a newspaper that all stakeholders should join hands and copy what has worked in other countries.
As the human population grows bigger, so does crime calling for stringent measures to address the ills that come with this growth.
A big brother society is one of the solutions to make our existence bearable.