Dear friends,, "[He] tried to convince me to have sex. He was approaching me during [sports] field practice...he would call me when [other] students went for a break." Lucia was just 14 years old when her teacher started pressuring her for sex at her school in Tanzania. And shockingly, she's not alone. 10% of girls in Tanzania experience sexual violence at the hand of their teachers. Instead of investigating and prosecuting teachers like Lucia's, the government is making it harder for girls in Tanzania to go to school in the first place. Both pregnant and married girls are expelled or rejected from schools, girls face mandatory pregnancy tests, and corporal punishment is common. It's policies like these that disproportionately discriminate against girls, making it harder for them to achieve an education. Sadly, more than 8,000 Tanzanian girls drop out of school each year as a result of pregnancy alone. We cannot stand for this. As a powerful international community of people who care, we have a chance to add pressure to the government in Tanzania to enact important changes that will stop the abuse and help schoolgirls. Such legislation should ensure that pregnant and married girls are not expelled from school, that teachers who abuse students are prosecuted, and that mandatory pregnancy tests and corporal punishment are banned. Thank you, | | Alex B.
The Care2 Petitions Team |
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