Male cops harass women, demand to be 'paid in kind'

Members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police in Hwange are said to be on a spree arresting any woman they find walking in the streets of the town after dusk and accusing them of prostitution.

Reports sent through to the media indicate that members of the ZRP this weekend held an operation to clear the town of suspected "ladies of the night" and in the process arrested any woman they found walking in the town centre after sunset. The operation which intensified over the weekend is said to have been in place since the beginning of the year.

The women sending through the tip off to the media say that police wantonly arrest any woman they find outdoors and charge them with loitering for purposes of prostitution a crime which attracts a $10 instant fine. The women claim that some of them were arrested while just taking an evening walk in the cooler hours of the evening. The women claim that they were forced to pay the fine after police officers insisted that if they did not pay the fine they would be arrested and kept in police custody and appear in court after the weekend.

"Am actually very angry with the police right now," writes one lady who claims to be employed as a professional clerk in one of the engineering companies in the town.

"I honestly feel that my right to freedom of movement has been seriously infringed on by the police. I wanted to take the matter further with the courts but unfortunately I threw away the admission of guilt ticket in anger as I could not stand my fiancé seeing me with a fine for prostitution," said the lady.

In a follow up of the matter a number of women in the mining town confirmed the harassment by the police officers. The women said that they were made to believe by the police that the new constitution stops women from walking around at night without the company of a man.

One lady who confessed to being a sex worker said that they are having a hard time with the police who are making large amounts of money off them on the loitering charge. The lady said they have to hire metered taxis to move around at night which is very expensive. She said as a cheaper method they are resorting to hiring men to walk around or be with them in town in the course of their business.

"We are forced to either move around in taxis which are very expensive or hire men to be with us to be protected from the police but that disturbs our business as clients evade us thinking we are taken already," said the lady.

Another confessed sex worker claimed that the police normally agree to be paid in kind by the women once they have been caught without the $10 fine money. The woman also concurred that some innocent women either going out for a walk or drink have fallen victim to the police.

"We have seen some who are just picked up while on their business not related to prostitution and they normally just pay the fine as the police make us believe that the new constitution bars women from walking alone at night."

An officer at Hwange Police station would not comment on the matter referring the reporter to the Community Liaison Officer who was said not to be on duty over the weekend. The officer however agreed of the existence of the law authorising police officers to arrest women suspected of loitering for purposes of prostitution emphasising that it is applied at the discretion of the arresting officer. The official who would not give his name said anyone who feels unfairly arrested has a right to refuse to pay the station fine and have their case heard by a magistrate court.

"Everything is at the discretion of the arresting officer. If one feels unfairly arrested they can demand to go to court and the issue of whether the person goes to court from police custody or home is also decided by the arresting officer but normally we would prefer all our suspects to be taken to court from our custody," said the officer.