Teachers named in rape cases.

Teachers and school administrators have been named as top child sex offenders, with primary and secondary school girls being their victims.

Addressing the media ahead of the 16 days of against gender based violence that starts on Friday, the State Minister for Gender Peace Mutuuzo said that these abuses are mostly students who are harassed by persons with powers over them.

She explained that all these have worked towards creating a dangerous academic environment for female learners leading to low self-esteem and subsequent school dropout.

She however said that school related gender based violence has remained a hidden vice with reporting level being as low as 39%.

To address this problem, she says the government will on Friday this week launch the National policy on elimination of gender based violence as Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate the16 days of activism against gander based violence.

According to a 2012 report by the Ministry of Education and Sports, 77.7 per cent of girls in primary schools experience sexual violence, while 82 per cent of their counterparts in secondary school experience the same compared to 34 per cent of those in university and tertiary institutions are victims of sexual violence.

Written by David Kugonza