The Ethiopian government is currently developing the country’s first-ever sexual violence registration system which will launch later this year.
Details
The system aims to prevent and respond to sexual violence against women and children and is hoped to make an impact in a country where prosecuting gender-based violence is a major challenge.
The system will hold sex offenders accountable even after they serve time for their crimes.
Zoom In
When it’s operational, it will exclude registered sex offenders from working in schools, orphanages, and other children’s institutions.
Why This Matters
According to a 2016 survey, 23% of Ethiopian women have experienced physical violence and 10% have experienced sexual violence. People often underreport such experiences so the true number is likely to be higher.
By The Numbers
With a budget of around 10m birr ($176,000) due to be contributed by various institutions, the national sex offense crime registry is proposed to have three types of pages, including a public page.
The Big Picture
Currently, South Africa is the only country on the continent with a national registry of sexual offenders along with Kenya.
Rwanda has announced plans to establish its registry and 10 of the 36 Nigerian states have a sexual offenders register, with only four states publishing the full details of the offenders
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