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Author
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Runyaho, Vimbainashe
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Title
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A perspective on the accessibility of immediate response services for sexual abuse in Manga, Bindura Rural.
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Abstract
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Various female children in underdeveloped rural areas are facing challenges in accessing immediate response services for sexual abuse such that many of them end up not even accessing those services, which is causing long term negative issues on those children. This study aims at examining the challenges faced by Manga, Bindura rural community in accessing immediate response services for sexual abuse, guided by the Ecological Systems Theory constituting of the microsystem, mesosystem, ecosystem macrosystem, as well as the chronosystem. The objectives of this study involves to identify the factors that hinder access to immediate response services for sexual abuse in Manga, Bindura rural, to examine the availability, accessibility, and responsiveness of existing sexual abuse response services in Bindura rural, as well as to propose copying strategies that can be adopted to enhance the accessibility and effectiveness of sexual abuse response services for underserved communities in Bindura rural. The study was conducted constituting of 21 participants in which 7 of them were key informants. The researcher used qualitative research methodology as well as the purposive sampling technique in selection of participants. During data collection the researcher managed to use the in-depth-interviews in obtaining information from participants as well as key informants. Thematic analysis was used as a method of presenting and analyzing data. Upon identifying factors that hinder access to immediate response services in Manga community, the research identified factors such as poor road network, poor cellular network connectivity, fear of labelling and victimization as well as the lack of support from family and community. The researcher also upon examining managed to notice that in Manga community there is access difficulty to services, lack of engagement and poor feedback, negative caregiver influence, unreliable support networks, limited facilities for service provision, shortage of trained professionals, conscientisation and awareness programs, unreliable law enforcement, in sensitive treatment as well as less or no long term case follow ups. Copying strategies were also identified in the research and they involved training and recruiting local volunteers, initiating mobile response, implementing conscientisation and awareness programs, organising support groups, scheduling monthly visits by social workers and also mobilizing resources as well as case conferencing. The researcher also organized an intervention framework for the study which is called Collaborative Integrated Access Framework for Immediate Response to Sexual Abuse in Rural Zimbabwe (CIAFIR-SARZ).
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Date
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June 2025
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Publisher
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BUSE
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Keywords
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Sexual Abuse
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Bindura Rural
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Immediate Response Services
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Supervisor
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Dr. Chikono
