The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has promised to end child marriages and prostitution in Epworth by the end of this year.
All along Epworth has always been an epicenter for illegal activities such as drug abuse, theft, abortion and child marriages.
However, Constable Kawire who works at Victim and friendly unit at Epworth Police Station last week assured the nation that prostitution and child marriages will be a story of the past in 2022.
She was speaking during a tour held by journalists in Epworth at Overspill Booster, last Friday.
She said:
“Those who live at Epworth booster have been helped by first lady’s programme who built a supermarket at overspill shopping centre and this has helped to reduce prostitution as a lot of women and girls are now venturing in vending business.
“Moreso, we thank our stakeholders in respect of our department of social development who instilled Community Care Workers (CCW) which enabled us to know cases of child marriages and all child abuses. So as Epworth Police Station through our stakeholders and all the people l think by the end of 2022 we will no longer have any sex worker at booster and child marriages,”
Epworth councilor and local board Chairman Mr Gift July added that they are going to remove all illegal settlements at all wards in Epworth and regularise them to reduce crime.
” These houses are supporting illegal activities like prostitution, drug abuse, and theft hence we are going to remove them and regularise the land to ensure that we stop illegal activities in this area,” he said.
Meanwhile, Junior council and Mayor of Epworth local board, Desire Nyagura said as youth representatives they have been working with other stakeholders to ensure that they educate sex workers in the community to make them see some of the dangers of engaging into prostitution .
“As youth leaders we have been trying to provide initiatives that can help to curb commercial sex work problems. We have been doing programmes to make sure that these people who are doing this commercial sex work are emancipated and have got enough knowledge and are equipped that they know the outcomes of such activities,” he said.
Epworth have almost 120 000 people who are living on unlawful areas with no proper jobs and this has resulted in them resorting to illegal activities.