Hard Truths by Allysa Brown

Today was the first day that I feel like we were all confronted with an internal battle in one way or another. We started out our morning at the police station talking about how the police in Tanzania work and what they do for victims of crimes. When first walking into the police station you couldn’t help but notice the state of the building. The walls were crumbling, the chairs and desks were tattered, the floors were muddy and chipped. Nothing about the police station seemed very welcoming. There were no decorations or posters on the walls to help make the place feel a little bit more comfortable. All I could imagine was how that experience of being in that building would feel if you were a victim of a crime.

The officers themselves were very welcoming to us (future lawyers), but I can only hope that the treatment would be the same for the victims of crimes that enter that building. We were greeted outside by the Regional Police Inspector. As we entered there was a plain clothed woman who we were told was a detective that did not speak any English. The inspector had told us that she was there to interview women and children who were victims of crimes. She joined us briefly as we asked our questions to the inspector about how the police structure works in Tanzania, but unfortunately she wasn’t able to understand our questions and provide us her insights.

During our discussion with the Inspector, we learned about how the police officers are assigned to work in the 77 districts in Arusha and that there is one officer for each district in charge of all the crimes in that area. The inspector emphasized the importance of their approach to community education being the reason for the reduction in sexual crimes in Tanzania. The inspector had stated that they are teaching people how to protect themselves, not walk down a dark alley, know that they can say no, as well as many other approaches. Alarmingly, there was very little discussion on the education to the offenders other than telling them that “rape is wrong”.

In the states, we have so far to go when it comes to helping victims of sexual crimes, and it is frightening that it could be worse. In Tanzania, according to Article 130, it is illegal for a man to have sex with a woman under the age of 18, but if she is married then he can have sex with her at 15. Tanzania does not recognize marital rape like we do in the states. If someone experiences a “true” rape (meaning outside of marriage) then the victim is to contact the police. They then are questioned by an officer of their same gender (hopefully), and examined to determine if there was a rape and need to go to the hospital. I did not press further on what the examination looked like but I can only imagine that it is looking at the victim’s body and intimate areas to determine if something happened. If the officer determines that a sexual crime was potentially committed against the victim reporting, they then are taken to a hospital where they would be met by a doctor to complete a forensic exam.

 

Through my own online research they try to place female victims with a female doctor, but if one is not available they try to use a male doctor with a female nurse present. The inspector told us that they gather a victim’s underwear for evidence but did not specify any other DNA related evidence available that they used. I continued pressing on what procedures that doctors would provide these victims and the Inspector had stated that they would provide HIV medication. However, when in some of the states, if not all, when you receive HIV treatment it requires follow up testing for months after. There was no discussion of any follow up testing available to victims. And when I asked about emergency contraceptives, even our own guide on the trip, was shocked to learn that Plan B was a thing available to women in the US. Birth control in Tanzania is not illegal, however, abortion is. As of now I am still unclear of what the country would categorize Plan B under. Through other research I had done, I did find out that tourists that are a victim of a crime do have the opportunity for these sorts of contraceptives, but like everything else during the entire forensic examination, you have to pay yourself.

After a forensic exam, the police ask the victim to identify who their attacker was. From what I understood, they provide them 72 hours to say who it was, or who they think it was. If they can identify who then the person is brought in for a line up to have the victim identify them, then they repeat the process so that they have to identify them twice. I am sure from what we know in the States, this can leave a lot of room for error. If the victim cannot identify who it was, then the case is dropped. This all may seem alarming, but like the title says, today was about hard truths. Here the community is so close knit and everybody kind of knows everybody so it would be rare not to know or have an idea of who the perpetrator was. And according to the Inspector, every rape case that the prosecutors go forward with, they win.

Now I’ll let you make your own conclusions on what that means, but let’s just say that is not always a good thing. I will say that if you are one of the unfortunate many that understand the impact of sex crimes on a person and how the courts in the United States deal with that, then you are probably just as alarmed as I am with how this country deals with victims experiencing similar crimes. Tanzania is not perfect, but we are not either, and something needs to be done about that. Here as a woman thinking about reporting this type of crime in this country would already be extremely frustrating, and I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be for the children that report the same crimes. This is reality here! This is the hard truth! We need change!

////Allysa Browne