Women across the world must unite to fight the scourge of violence - Masarira

Democracy and Civil Rights activist Linda Masarira has called on all women of different age groups to unite and fight the scourge of violence rocking
the world.

She said  as they commemorate International Women's Day,  let's leverage on the opportunity it presents to have individuals and institutions subscribe to the women's struggle by respecting, promoting, protecting and ensuring progressive realization of women's rights!

"This should reflect in our daily lives, prior to, during and post the commemoration. We join hands with all the women in the world in celebrating
International Women's day. On this day I call upon government, civil society, women organizations, media, individual men, women, girls and boys
to unite in addressing the global pandemic of violence against women and girls," she said.

"Violence against women is extreme and has manifestations of pervasive discrimination against women. A research recently carried out by Zimbabwe demographics health survey shows that 1 in 3 women is assaulted and coerced into sexual activities. Hundreds of women are trafficked year in and year out and are sexually exploited. Most victims suffer in silence with little or no access to justice care,or support. In 2016, we worked tirelessly to support and bring back the human trafficking survivors who faced sexual harassment in Kuwait."

She said as Zimbabweans they can do better to protect women and prevent this pervasive human rights violations.

"It is a collective effort to seize the opportunity presented by this Day in collaboration with men to denounce and fight against practices that
undermine women's participation in politics and national platforms. We lobby to explore and institutionalise varied and flexible gender roles on
men and women as means of undermining gender stereotypes in political and
voluntary organizations and the society," she said.