{"id":1154,"date":"2025-10-03T17:52:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T17:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=1154"},"modified":"2025-10-03T17:52:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T17:52:23","slug":"abia-maps-call-for-end-to-sexual-misconduct-in-public-transport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2025\/10\/03\/abia-maps-call-for-end-to-sexual-misconduct-in-public-transport\/","title":{"rendered":"ABIA, MAPs Call for End to Sexual Misconduct in Public Transport"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By Fanuel Chinowaita<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover aligncenter\" style=\"min-height:100vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"960\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-1156 size-full\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/FB_IMG_17595132994738039-1.jpg\" data-object-fit=\"cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/FB_IMG_17595132994738039-1.jpg 720w, https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/FB_IMG_17595132994738039-1-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#8f7362\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Tendai Lynnet Mudehwe<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MUTARE<\/strong> \u2013 African-Bantu Identity Advocates (ABIA) and the Manicaland Passengers Association (MAPs) have raised alarm over rising cases of sexual misconduct involving school children in public transport and called on authorities to urgently act to protect the dignity of the girl child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a petition dated 30 September 2025 addressed to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Manicaland Transporters Associations and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the organisations said they were disturbed by a growing practice among schoolchildren known as \u201ccollab,\u201d where boys carry girls on their laps in commuter buses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ABIA Director and MAPs Coordinator Ms. Tendai Lynnet Mudehwe said the practice was exposing children to sexual activities inside public transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe most disturbing habit that has prompted us as an organisation and concerned community is the boy child carrying the girl child on their legs and they call it \u2018collab\u2019. Sexual activities are being done in these collaborations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mudehwe also expressed concern that many commuter buses used by students had tinted windows, loud music and were often driven by young drivers and conductors, some of whom allegedly engaged in sexual relationships with minors in school uniforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The organisations appealed for stronger measures including: Holding transport operators accountable if their employees tolerate such behaviour.<br>Training public transport crews on sexual abuse and related issues.<br>Ensuring all public transport operators are registered associations for effective monitoring.<br>Increased police vigilance at roadblocks, particularly when students travel home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to promote safer transportation and support schools with guidance and counselling.<br>Establishment of a community taskforce to monitor and curb sexual abuse, misconduct, substance abuse and bullying among students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLooking forward to your cordial and prompt responses. In Ubuntu we say, \u2018It takes a community to raise a child and it\u2019s everyone\u2019s child\u2019,\u201d the petition read.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Fanuel Chinowaita Tendai Lynnet Mudehwe MUTARE \u2013 African-Bantu Identity Advocates (ABIA) and the Manicaland Passengers Association (MAPs) have raised alarm over rising cases of sexual misconduct involving school children in public transport and called on authorities to urgently act to protect the dignity of the girl child. In a petition dated 30 September 2025&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1154"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1157,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154\/revisions\/1157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}