UN: Child abuse worsening in Zimbabwe

Child rape has increased 42 percent in Zimbabwe, the U.N. children's agency said Wednesday, linking worsening child abuse to family tensions caused by the nation's economic meltdown.

The U.N. Children's Fund launched a new campaign calling on children, relatives, and church and other groups to fight what it called the "staggering statistics on the unspeakable evils of child abuse."

UNICEF said the number of cases of rape of minors reported to police surged from 2,192 in 2003 to 3,112 in 2006. Many other cases likely went unreported in a climate of secrecy and denial, it said.

Zimbabwe has by far the world's highest official inflation of more than 100,500 percent, blamed largely on disruptions in the agriculture- based economy after the often violent, government-ordered seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms since 2000.

The former regional bread basket is suffering acute shortages of food, gasoline and most basic goods.

Dr. Festo Kavishe, UNICEF's chief representative in Zimbabwe, said social workers reported that adults unable to provide normal care, food and schooling vented their anger on children.

"Zimbabwe's current economic challenges have meant an increase in verbal abuse, neglect and physical violence," Kavishe said.

The nation's 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS were particularly vulnerable to abuse by relatives and those in authority, even in schools and care institutions, he said.

The worst economic crisis in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 also has created a category of children known as "diaspora orphans," the children of those living and working in neighboring South Africa and in Europe, the United States and Australia.

An estimated 4 million Zimbabweans — one-fourth the population — have left the country to find work abroad, splitting up families.

Innocent Chingwaru, a leader of the Faith Based Council of Zimbabwe, a Christian organization, said deepening poverty collapsed traditional family "safety nets" and eroded age-old African family support mechanisms.

"It is a depressing scenario. In the unfolding crisis, this is a critical time that calls for action in all levels of our society," he said.