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By Marlvin Ngiza
Churches have raised concerns over the increase in cases of sexual exploitation of women and girls by church leaders and congregants. This comes after the death of a 14-year-old girl who recently died at a shrine of Johanne Marange Apostolic Church shrine while giving birth.
In a statement, the Zimbabwe Head of Christians Denomination (ZHOCD) warned churches against abusing women and girls and urged citizens to report all perpetrators of abuse.
“Considering the gravity of the seriousness of Memory Machaya’s case and the many related cases of sexual abuse of women and girls, we as the Church call for the following actions: We as the church seek to repent from such crimes perpetrated in the name of our faith. We totally reject all forms of abuse of women and girls as a misrepresentation and perversion of the Christian faith. We call upon all churches to stop protecting perpetrators and report all forms of abuse of women and girls in their midst,” said ZHOCD.
Meanwhile, ZHOCD has called upon law enforcers to turn every stone.ZHOCD also expressed that the constitution is the custodian of the rights of children hence the burden is on the state and its institutions to protect minors.
“The 2013 Zimbabwe Constitution remains the highest custodian of the rights of children as espoused in section 19 read together with section 81 that puts the burden on the state and its institutions to safeguard the rights of children.
“We call upon the ZRP to make public the process of investigation of Memory’s case including stating if the accused is arrested.
“We are also calling for an independent national inquiry into sexual abuse of women and girls in general but on abuse in the churches in particular.
“Justice for Memory Machaya is Justice for all women and girls subjected to sexual abuse in Church and the broader society. As the scriptures say, “Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen,” added ZHOCD
ZHOCD was formed in 2006 and is comprised of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe(EFZ), Zimbabwe Catholic Bishop’s Conference (ZCBC), and the Union For Development of Apostolic and Zionist Churches (UDACIZA).