Abstract:
Rape is both a human rights and health issue of concern among development actors at
local, national, regional and global, levels. The paper examined the existing institutional
dynamics in mitigating rape among children and women in Zanzibar. A case study
design was used with a mixed-methods approach. The sampling procedures involved
purposive and simple random sampling methods. The questionnaire survey, key
informant interview and focus group discussion methods were used to collect data.
Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis informed semi-quantitative and qualitative
data analysis respectively. The findings revealed that rape is persistently a major issue
affecting the community members including women and children in the study area. The
factors contributing to rape include traditional beliefs, economic reasons, immorality
and modernity. The findings revealed further that social and government institutional
dynamics in mitigating rape mixed responses against rape from religious institutions
holding a higher level of responses (4 levels) followed by Shehia, District and family
scoring a moderate level (3 levels) of practices. The study concluded that rape among
women and children are influenced by underlying factors including poor mitigating
measures against rape among the relevant social and government institutions. The
paper recommends for the adoption of proactive approach and results-oriented
response to mitigating rape at an institutional level. This would involve the creation of
a synergy between family members, government agencies and religious on planning,
intervening, monitoring and reporting rape issues.
