26 Feb 2014

Incidents of defilement are said to be on the rise in the Ghanzi District, resulting in high levels of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

This was revealed by district AIDS coordinator, Ms Tshoganetso Mahupe at a Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) employee wellness day over the weekend. “Sadly, many of these defilement cases go unreported. But we have many patients under the age of 16 being treated for sexually transmitted diseases as a result of defilement. On one hand, police statistics indicate that only a small number of defilement cases is reported,” she said.

Ms Mahupe added that defilement led to high rates of teenage pregnancy in the region. She stated that in 2013, they recorded 92 cases of teenage pregnancy in Charles Hill and 31 cases in Ghanzi.

She added that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the region had also increased from 13.5 per cent in 2008 to 17.6 per cent in 2013.

She laid the blame on the elderly, especially employees in the region and pleaded with them to take responsibility and desist from engaging in sexual activities with minors. ENDS