Tanzanian authorities say they have arrested five
schoolgirls so that they can help with information
on the men who impregnated them.

The girls aged between 16 and 19 were arrested
as part of a crackdown on child pregnancies.

The District Commissioner Sebastian Waryuba
said that the schoolgirls were arrested last week.
They were later released on bail. He says police
seek to question two other schoolgirls.

“We have managed to arrest the girls and their
parents but unfortunately those who impregnated
the girls have escaped and we are looking for
them,” he said.

Rights groups have slammed the girls’ arrest,
insisting that the men who impregnated them
should have been arrested instead. The girls
were later released on bail and authorities are
still searching for the men involved “Prosecuting girls who are victims of sexual exploitation and violence, whilst allowing adult perpetrators to go free, sends out the wrong message,” said Christa Stewart, a lawyer who works with charity Equality Now.

“In a misguided attempt to prove that they take
sexual violence seriously, the Tanzanian
government is infringing on the human rights of
adolescent girls and this is unacceptable.
Arresting victims is never the solution.”

The East African nation sentences those who
impregnate schoolgirls to at least 30 years in
prison. The penalties are intended to discourage
early marriages and teenage pregnancies that
lead to school dropouts.

But human rights groups have condemned
authorities for implementing policies that don’t
allow schoolgirls to return to class after
pregnancies.

Human Rights Watch says many girls regularly
experience sexual harassment and exploitation
by teachers in schools and that schools lack
adequate protection and confidential reporting
mechanisms.


http://punchng.com/police-arrest-five-pregnant-students/