Back in December 2021, a young female committed suicide in a British army barracks. Last week, media reports said 19-year-old Jaysley Beck “was driven to take her own life after being sexually assaulted by a senior officer and relentlessly harassed by her boss, a coroner concluded.”
It was further reported that her boss had “hounded her” with 3,600 (some reports said 4,600) WhatsApp texts in two months. A news headline stated: “Army admits we should have done so much more to help ideal recruit” and issued an apology to her family.
There are so many angles to this case, including the Me Too movement equating this scenario with a principal breach of women’s rights. As I read it all, I flash-backed to my days in the military.
During the one-year national service training (JKT), which was compulsory after finishing Form 6 in the 1970s, I remember young ladies going through hell. There was one thread that was well known. If a commander (we called them “afandes”) desired a female, he would make the whole platoon or group of young trainees suffer, so that she cried and gave in to his advances.
This would include extra torturous drills, standing in the scorching sun, running endlessly, etc. Speaking of running, for the first three months, we trainees (“kurutas” in army slang) were not allowed to walk, stroll, or salute. You ran everywhere—even while eating. If you passed an officer, you jumped. Simple. This was part of the transition from being a blasé civilian to a disciplined soldier.
Anyway.
There used to be a lot of sexual coercion. Those days, phrases like “unyanyasaji wa kijinsia” or “ukatili wa kijinsia” were absent. Young women knew the score, and they rolled with it and had to bear it. There were rivers of fears and tears. Yes, some females did get pregnant, ending with abortions and children born out of unwanted sex.
Some of these ladies are now in the government. Most are grandmothers. I am sure they have hundreds of stories. I have been told that, nowadays, that sort of thing is not tolerated in Tanzania—which is great news.
However, a report by Mwananchi writer Devotha Kihwelo in December 2024 quoted Tanzanian police sources alleging there was an increase in sexual harassment cases by 22.5% from 2022 to 2023. This, Kihwelo wrote, is mostly in Temeke, Tanga, and—guess what—Arusha. The victims? Youngsters under the age of consent. Kids.
But then we come to the thing that is called military culture. Military etiquette. Almost all nations have armies. Traditionally, soldiers are male. Traditionally, female soldiers have particular roles—nurses, intelligence officers, communications operators, and so on. Women have a professional function in all sectors of society. And with this comes that silent terror: sexual abuse.
Things have slowly evolved in the last 50 years. The traditional language of communities has changed, hopefully, including the military. Meantime, the search and struggle to balance humanity is still a work in progress.
Bless your eyes. Nakwafo, if you speak Kimeru.
Email: mtegowachui@gmail.com
Web: www.makalazangu.blogspot.com
