Sexual harrasment should stop among humans

                                                                   
Janet Tatenda Bhila

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         Subtle pressure for sexual activity;

·        Patting or pinching;

·        Deliberate brushing against another person's body;

·        “Friendly” arms around the shoulder;

·        Deliberate assaults or molestations;

·        Sexually explicit pornographic pictures posted in view of all employees;

·        Demanding sexual favors, accompanied by implied or overt threats concerning an individual's job, grades, letters of recommendation, etc.;

·        Explicit offers of money for sex.

     Stalking .

Above are examples of sexual harrasements that normally take place in our day to day runnings.It has happened to someone and it is up to us to be aware of what is happening around us and be able to stop it before more people get hurt.

It is mostly women that are affected by this because the harassers often have more power and control over their victims.This happens due to the myth or belief that women should always be submissive to the man.

The number of abuse cases is rising in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone and other African countries, statistics show. Whether that means more children are being victimized or more are coming forward — or both — is impossible to determine, experts say.

The impact is apparent in Zimbabwe, where a child rights group estimates that at least 2,000 child rape victims have died of AIDS since 1998. “Literally for the first time in Zimbabwe’s history, child abuse is no longer a taboo subject,” said James Elder, a Unicef spokesman.

 One in three of the 4,000 women questioned by the Community of Information, Empowerment and Transparency said they had been raped in the past year. A survey conducted among 1,500 schoolchildren in the Soweto township, a quarter of all the boys interviewed said that 'jackrolling', a term for gang rape, was fun. More than 25% of South African men questioned in a survey admitted to raping someone; of those, nearly half said they had raped more than one person, according to a new study conducted by the Medical Research Council (MRC).It is estimated that 500,000 rapes are committed annually in South Africa.A 2010 study led by the government-funded Medical Research Foundation says that in Gauteng province, home to South Africa's most populous city of Johannesburg, more than 37 percent of men said they had raped a woman. Nearly 7 percent of the 487 men surveyed said they had participated in a gang rape.

The survivors normally feel anger frustration and some blame themselves for letting themselves be abused.In most cases some even get to the extent of changing schools,dropping out of school or even venturing into harmful practices if they are not helped in time.

The law everywhere is out to get harassers who deprive women and men of their freedom... ( Janet 2012) Please in helping others you are helping yourself....

Victim friendly units in all police stations are out there to help us lets use them.I f by any chance we face sexual harrassment anyone whom we can trust can be told or better yet the victim friendly unit or any organisation near you that deal with such issues will be of tremendous help.

Let us all set out to get educated about our rights and what happens around us it is up to us to make a stop to such inhumane practices.