Bulawayo junior parliamentarians have emphasised on the need to eliminate Vuzu parties saying they expose young girls to various forms of abuse.
Pelandaba and Mpopoma constituency junior MP Shaun Nyembe said men should desist from taking advantage of young girls and treating them as sex objects.
Nyembe made these remarks during the belated International day of the girl child commemorations held in the city on Wednesday.
He said boys should desist from passing uncomfortable comments to girls as it destroys their self-esteem.
“Boys should desist from passing bad comments about bad girls because it destroys their self-esteem. Parents need to teach their sons to follow the proper protocol of courtship. Girls are not sex objects. Calling girls names such as fat, ugly is not right and this makes them love themselves less and they end up giving in to sex with anyone willing just so as to fit into certain social circles,” said Nyembe.
“We are happy because the Minister of State for the Bulawayo Province Judith Ncube has been quite supportive and has assisted us in dealing with issues of Vuzu parties. We approached her and told her we wanted the police to be engaged in the fight against these parties. The police intervened and we managed to achieve desirable results.”
Thubelihle Nkiwane, junior Mayoress of Bulawayo reiterated that girls ought to be protected from Vuzu parties as they are the ones who suffer most of the consequences.
“Girls are the ones who get raped at these parties. They struggle with the burden of carrying fatherless children and they are forced to drop out of school,” she said.
Nkiwane said the protection of girls is of great importance as women are the backbone of society.
She said it is important that they are equipped with enough knowledge on issues of HIV/AIDS and how to speak out on rape.
“So may campaigns have been held in the urban areas but little has been done for the girl child in the rural areas. We intend to look at young girls and women in rural areas. They succumb to many challenges especially issues of failure to acquire sanitary wear. There are some girls who end up absconding lessons because of lack of proper sanitary wear,” said Nkiwane.
