Gender violence reversal in Tanzania: More men report suffering as incidents among women decline

Incidents of violence against men in Tanzania are on the rise as more males come forward to report their predicaments to the appropriate authorities, a new report shows.

The Tanzania Human Rights Report 2023, released yesterday by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), shows that the number of cases of violence against men rose from four percent in 2022 to 10 percent in 2023.

In a surprising turn of events, the surge in violence against men within Tanzania's patriarchal society seems to coincide with a decline in reported incidents of violence against women and children, underscoring the complexity of gender dynamics and the evolving landscape of societal challenges.

The LHRC report shows that violence against women and children went down to 30 and 45 percent in 2023 from 33 percent and 47 percent in 2022, respectively.

Launching the report, a senior researcher at LHRC, Mr Fundikila Wazambi, said there was further deterioration of the human rights record in the country in 2023, with incidents of violence against the elderly also rising from 10 percent in 2022 to 12 percent in 2023.

According to the report, the five most violated rights were the right to life, freedom from violence, the right to equality before the law, the right to liberty and personal security, and freedom from torture.

Some of the regions where most of the human rights violations and issues were reported included Dar es Salaam, Njombe, Geita, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mara, Kigoma, and Dodoma.

The executive director for LHRC, Dr Anna Henga, said the 2023 edition of the annual human rights report, which is the 22nd edition, touches on civil and political rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; as well as collective rights in both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.

“Different forms of violence against women, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly were the most reported issues and incidents. These contributed to intimate partner homicides, witchcraft-motivated killings, denial of property and inheritance rights, and physical and psychological harm,” she said.

She went on to reveal that criminal justice issues were also widely reported, debated, and discussed, as many accused persons continue to languish in prisons because of deficiencies in the criminal justice system, as also highlighted in the report of the Presidential Commission on Criminal Justice Reforms.

“Budgetary allocation and constraints also continued to be a key concern for the realisation of key social and economic rights, such as the right to education and the right to health,’ she said.

She said these issues, violations, and challenges can be attributed to several factors, including gaps in laws and policies, inadequate legal protection, poor enforcement of laws, inadequate budget allocation for key sectors, a lack of oversight and accountability, and a lack of political will.

Moreover, the report shows that other key human rights issues for the year 2023 included violations of the rights of journalists, violations of fair trial rights (especially due to lengthy pre-trial detention), human and child trafficking, child neglect, child labour and exploitation, child marriage, privacy, and personal security, FGM, and violations of property and inheritance rights of women (including widows).