The key findings were as follows:
1. On violence against children:
103 cases were identified in which children had either been direct victims or were directly
mentioned as being present where violence took place. 67% of these were 5 years old or
younger. The worst years for violence were election years. Displacement, assault and families
getting separated were the most frequent violations. As regards the witnessing of violations, this
was again worse in election years, with assault being far and away the most frequently reported
violation. Property destruction featured as the next most recurrent violation that children
witnessed. The arson probably associated with displacement given that homesteads were
targeted.
The most frequently reported perpetrators were youth militia, ZANU PF supporters, and,
surprisingly, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).
2. On violence at schools:
89 cases were found where there was a report of violence at a school or against a teacher.
The most commonly reported violations that caused some form of disruption to school activities
were schools being used as “bases” or schools being closed for reasons related to politics, such
as teachers being expelled for their supposed political beliefs. The worst years were the election
years of 2002 and 2008.
Cases of violence involving pupils were more commonly seen in 2001 and 2002, but also in
2003 and 2008, with forced attendance at rallies (40%), dismissal from school or forced to flee
(33%), abduction (13%) and assault (13%) being the most common violations reported.
Violations against teachers were more common during the election years of 2002 and 2008,
but also in 2001 between the 2000 and 2002 elections but predominantly related to the elections
in 2002. The violations against the teachers were serious: assault (26%), forced to flee (17%),
threats (17%), and property destruction (11%).
3. On violence at family homes:
Here 254 cases were identified from the Human Rights Forum reports, with 2008 being the
worst year for reports of violence, but 2001, 2002, and 2003 all having reports with relatively
high frequency, and continuing the trends seen above. The most commonly reported violations
were the witnessing of violence (29%) and displacement (27%). The most commonly identified
perpetrators were ZANU PF supporters (31%), ZANU PF Youth (24%), and youth militia
(18%), which has been the common finding in most human rights reports, and not merely in
respect of children.
It seems evident from the data examined that very young children, many under 5 years and,
certainly given the large number of primary schools, young children anyhow, were witnessing
serious violence, and mostly perpetrated against their caretaking adults. The data relating to the
witnessing of human rights violations indicated that there was a much greater risk of children
witnessing violence and experiencing very traumatic events such as having their homes
destroyed, becoming seriously impoverished through the theft or destruction of the family’s
possessions, and then being displaced from their community, probably ending up as internally
displaced.
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