By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA –
THE Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) says more than 300 cases of child neglect have been reported on the Copperbelt between January and March, this year.
YWCA Copperbelt coordinator Sharon Chisanga has expressed concern over the escalating cases of child neglect in the province.
Statistics for child neglect on YWCA records indicated more than 300 neglected children for Copperbelt alone between January this year and to date.
Ms Chisanga said in Kitwe yesterday that the escalating cases of child neglect in the province were a source of concern because of many underlining factors which included defilement, rape and early marriages.
Ms Chisanga said a study by the association on the high figures of child neglect revealed that most of these children were born out of wedlock with some being victims of defilement and rape.
“This is really disturbing because you get to wonder why we should be having high figures of child neglect when there are parents out there,” she said.
Ms Chisanga who attributed the high rate of child neglect to early marriages said there was need for concerted efforts to help curb cases of early marriages.
She said while efforts were being made to address early marriages, the two existing laws on marriages, customary and statutory which contradict one another still posed challenges to effectively curb the vice.
While statutory law prescribed a specific age for marriage, some parents use customary law on puberty to marry off a girl.
“This is why we have been calling for harmonisation of statutory and customary law on marriage because the two contradict one another,” she said.
She nonetheless praised various stakeholders particularly the Judiciary for effort made towards the implementation of the Gender-Based Violence Act which has gone a long way in helping curb cases of defilement and rape.
This she said had ultimately helped to reduce cases of child neglect.