Addis Ababa, 30 June, 2020 / 9:45 pm (ACI Africa).
The leadership of the Catholic Church in Ethiopia is collaborating with some of the country’s musicians in a campaign dubbed Zim Alilim, which aims at creating awareness about the challenge of domestic violence, which has worsened in recent times because of COVID-19 lockdown.
Initiated by some of Ethiopia’s popular artists following an increase in violence and cases of abuse, the Zim Alilim campaign means “I won’t keep quiet.”
“The Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat hosted various collaborators in a meeting held recently with the view of finding ways to respond to the violence against children which has emerged as an issue in the COVID-19 lockdown period,” Vatican News reported Tuesday, June 30.
According to the report, the discussion between the Church leadership and musicians “focused on the increase of violence against children, women, girls, and sexual abuse during the lockdown and sought to find ways of addressing the challenges.”
The Ethiopian Press Agency recently reported that cases of domestic violence including rape and sexual assaults have been on the increase in the East African nation since a lockdown was put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19. Early marriages are also on the rise as a result of the closure of schools.
