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Some Impediments to Child Sexual Abuse Interventions and Corresponding Social Work Implications: Reflections on the Zimbabwean Victim Friendly System

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Abstract

Child sexual abuse is a multifaceted children’s rights issue and a global problem of considerable extent. It has adverse effects for child survivors and their ecological environments. Using qualitative data from a multiple-case study research project, the current paper discusses some of the impediments hindering effective service provision within the institutional arrangements that respond to child sexual abuse cases in Zimbabwe. The Victim Friendly System is a confluence of multisectoral and multistakeholder professionals from different governmental and nongovernmental organizations that offer integrated and coordinated services targeting primary, secondary and tertiary levels of child sexual abuse prevention and mitigation. While the Victim Friendly System has made significant strides in providing better service delivery outcomes to direct and indirect victims of child sexual abuse, there remains some service provision gaps that hinder its effectiveness. These impediments include limited coverage of services due to an urban bias, services remaining largely unknown to the public owing to poor visibility, and the cost burden associated with accessing services. The authors argue that these gaps constrain children’s access to muchneeded intervention. This constitutes rights violations for CSA survivors. The paper ends by discussing corresponding implications for social work practice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lecturer Midlands State University, Gweru, Zimbabwe

    Noel Garikai Muridzo

  2. Department of Social Work, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia

    Victor Chikadzi

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  1. Noel Garikai Muridzo
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  2. Victor Chikadzi
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Correspondence to Noel Garikai Muridzo.

Ethics declarations

To ensure that the study abides by ethical standards, ethical clearances were obtained from the University of the Witwatersrand Non-Medical Ethics Committee and the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe. In addition, participants and VFS organizations voluntarily participated. To this end, participants and organizations were asked to give consent for participation and audio recording of interviews.

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Notes

1. The Victim Friendly System (VFS) is a multisectoral forum consisting of government departments and civic organizations providing services to survivors of child sexual abuse in Zimbabwe.

2. This article is based on a PhD study submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Muridzo, N.G., Chikadzi, V. Some Impediments to Child Sexual Abuse Interventions and Corresponding Social Work Implications: Reflections on the Zimbabwean Victim Friendly System. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work 5, 257–266 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-020-00137-x

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