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“The care staff say: these children are like brothers and sisters. Sexual abuse cannot happen. It doesn’t happen here. Is this true?”

According to Innocent Habimfura, Regional Operations Director of East and Southern Africa for the charity Hope and Homes for Children, the caregiver response to reports of sexual violence is often disbelief.

“In those institutions, it’s so difficult to report when it happens," he said. "Children tell their caregivers, but a protective mechanism kicks in, with fear that the institution will be considered an accomplice of abuse, due to their failure of child safeguarding and associated consequences with donors, the state and the general population.”

Yet children who have experienced sexual violence at home or in their community are often the first to be considered for institutional care.

"For kids in care, “the shame and stigma attached to sexual violence against children is amplified”"

Rwanda is doubling down on the issue. It has pledged to become the first nation in Africa to be orphanage-free by 2022, and has created one stop centres, designed to assist child and adult victims of sexual violence to prevent them from entering the care system.

The data on sexual violence in care

Sexual violence is prevalent across Rwanda. A 2019 UN study found that a quarter of girls and 10% of boys are victims of sexual violence before the age of 18.

Children in institutional care are a particularly vulnerable group, but data on the prevalence of sexual violence among them is not available. The Rwandan Government’s children’s health survey, released in 2018, acknowledged this gap.

Habimfura agreed: “No one is aware of the real level of sexual abuse in institutions, as children's individual living conditions are basically under the sole direct responsibilities of the institution. They then fall under the category of hidden children, which exposes them to more risks.”

“These children are already in vulnerable situations. when they experience violence, the trauma multiplies”

For any child, sexual violence is horrific. But for kids in care, “the shame and stigma attached to sexual violence against children is amplified,” said Stephen Ucembe, Regional Advocacy Manager at Hope and Homes for Children.

They can also fall off the map. “These children are already in vulnerable situations. when they experience violence, the trauma multiplies,” Ucembe added. “They don’t seek help, they don't have a support network. They then leave care and can disappear totally.”

Addressing the issue: deinstitutionalisation

That’s why Hope and Homes for Children advocate total deinstitutionalisation — the full closure of orphanages. On top of being spaces where child sexual abuse can often take place unchecked, orphanages can damage child development. Physical and psychological problems can develop following neglect, abuse and a general lack of care.

"There were 3,323 Rwandan kids in orphanages on the eve of the policy. Now there are only around 329."

It’s important that with the closures, the model finds ways to carefully transition children into normal life, such as moving in with existing family members or foster families.

Usually, Habimfura said when speaking to Apolitical last year, if 10 children leave institutional care, around seven will go to live with family, two will enter foster care, and one to live independently in society with specialist young adult support.

With Hope and Homes for Children’s assistance, the Rwandan government has also acted as a trailblazer for closing institutions. Now 14 of Rwanda’s mainstream orphanages are closed, including Rwanda’s oldest and largest institution, Orphelinat Noel de Nyundo. Hope and Homes for Children are also currently piloting the closure and transformation of two institutions for children with disabilities.

When surveyed at the time, there were 3,323 Rwandan kids in orphanages on the eve of the policy. Now there are only around 329.

Cross-country learning is also taking place. Hope and Homes for Children are taking government officials from other countries like Kenya, to Rwanda, to show them that change is possible.

Isange One Stop Centres

Preventing children from falling into institutions is also important. Instead of falling back on the care system to protect victims of child sexual violence, Rwanda has instead established places to help children, such as its free-to-use Isange One Stop Centres.

Isange, which translates as “you are among yours”, is a one-stop-shop for child and adult victims of sexual violence. Doctors work together with lawyers, police officers, psychologists and social workers to bring together all the bureaucracy of reporting abuse into one building, to minimise risk and distress.

It combines medical examinations, in order to provide evidence to the police, with counselling and legal help.

Established in 2009, the centres are a cross-departmental collaboration between Rwanda’s Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice and the National Police.

The scheme was first piloted in 2009 with the backing of the First Lady’s office. Now there are 44 sites, meaning there is an Isange centre in all of Rwanda’s district hospitals across the country.

If it’s concluded that the child in question can’t return to their family for their own safety, foster care will be found within the local community. Institutions are not considered.

Habimfura is a fan of Isange’s preventative, cross-sector approach, as well as its connection with local services. “If we root care in community structures, children become a shared responsibility,” he said. “If it’s in the community, child protection systems are more likely to work.” — Emma Sisk

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