TV show to call out 'sex pests'

UNITED Kingdom-based Zimbabwean actress and choreographer Enisia Mashusha is set to launch a television show titled The A-List, where she will dig up cases of abuse of the girl child, which she said were prevalent in society.

Mashusha said several women had opened up to her on the different kinds of abuses they experienced, with the debut episode set to feature dancer, actress and singer Dalma Chiwereva.

The founder of the all-female dance troupe, Mambokadzi, Mashusha said names of powerful individuals and those politically-connected had been cropping up, but vowed to expose the culprits despite the threats she claimed to have received.

Mashusha told NewsDay Life & Style from her base in London that although she feared for her life, that would not stop her from doing her advocacy work.

"I still fear for my life and family even up to now, especially as I embark on this new show, The A-List, which will tackle some highly sensitive cases of abuse and sexual harassment," she said.

"It is only the need to fight for justice, the desire to see the girl child free from abuse, that has given me the courage to go ahead although I know my life is in danger. In any case, I am not doing anything wrong, whatsoever, under the auspices of the law."

Mashusha had written earlier on her Facebook page that she was wrapping up the first episode of the show.

"As I am finalising the first episode of The A-List show, I have a lot of women and girls coming through with their stories. Bringing up these stories, my life will continue to be in danger, but I stand for the girl child and I have always been," she said.

"Through The A-List show, I know that I continue to put my life in danger, but I seek to provide that much-needed platform for the oppressed, harassed, and abused to air their views and grievances, and possibly find a solution and an end to these growing anomalies in our society."

She said The A-List show would also be a platform to expose and market skilled women in the arts as well as offering them an opportunity to capacity-build and uplift themselves.

Mashusha has, in the past, made sensational claims that one of the country's most well-known clerics she used to work for was a "sex pest".

"He also started taking advantage of women and girls by sleeping with them," she was quoted saying.

"My biggest concern is on girls and women who are being used unwillingly."