A total of 2,167 defilement cases reported to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) between 2018 and 2020 involved children aged below ten, The New Times can reveal.

According to tentative figures contained in a report set to be discussed by senators on Tuesday, November 17, in the 2018/19 period alone, 3,215 defilement cases were reported. Of these, 3,135 cases reported were girls and 80 boys.

A total of 928 or 29 per cent of these were aged below 10 years old while 2,287 were aged between 11 and 17.

In 2019/2020, a total of 4,265 cases were reported. Of these, the 4,154 involved girls, while 111 involved boys. 1,239 of these cases involved children below the age of 10 while 3,026 involved children aged between 11 and 17.

Parliament joins the fight

The numbers came to light ahead of the Senatorial Social Affairs, Human Rights and Petitions Commission’s plan to this Tuesday, November 17 present a report to the Senate Plenary that will dig deep into the issues surrounding defilement and teen pregnancies.

The report is a result of recommendations made by the Senate in February this year after a review of the 2018/19 National Human Rights Commission activity report which revealed its concerns on the rising number of defilement cases and teen pregnancies.

The committee was tasked with digging deep into the issue and establishing why adults continue to rape children, the consequences of such acts and to provide advice and solutions that can help to uproot the issue once and for all.

Upon conviction, a person who commits child defilement is liable to imprisonment for a period of not less than 20 years and not more than 25 years, if the victim is 14 years or older.

If child defilement is committed on a child under fourteen (14) years, the penalty is life imprisonment that cannot be mitigated by any circumstances.

The numbers reflect a concern that has for the last two years been a matter of national debate with many calling for a more holistic approach that involves families, communities and the government for a more sustainable solution.

In July this year, RIB Secretary General, Col Jeannot Ruhunga said that there is need for an intensive and all-inclusive sensitisation programme to highlight to society the value of fighting this vice.

"It all comes down to sensitisation and how this information is consumed and how people are ready to get fed up with it and decide to start reporting it. This is a war that cannot be won by one part of society alone. We need to all be involved,” he explained.

Worrying trend

While a total of 78,000 babies were born to teen mothers between 2015 and 2019, recent data also indicates that by the age of 19, one in five (20.8 per cent) Rwandan girls is a first-time mother.

According to Nicolette Nsabimana the coordinator of Centre Marembo, a youth-centred NGO working to rehabilitate young girls who have been defiled or have gone through similar difficulties, victims are mostly pushed by thoughts of blame and trauma not to report their ordeals.

"Defiled girls tend to feel more vulnerable and the stigma forces them to blame themselves. They blame themselves and they know that society will also blame them. That vulnerability is to blame for their failure to report the cases.” she added.

Sylvie Nsanga, a feminist and children rights activist told The New Times in an interview that it is time parents started to openly talk to their children about reproductive health.

"The culture and religion expect people to not have premarital sex. A child who is sexually active is regarded as ill-mannered. Our children shouldn’t be our copies, but should instead be empowered to make informed decisions,” she says.