Sex-drought ravages Matobo women

SEVERE sexual hunger is reportedly stalking women in Matobo District in Matabeleland South amid reports that some married women whose husbands work in South Africa and Botswana are now turning to herdboys for sexual satisfaction.

This was revealed on Friday last week by the District's Development Officer Christine Nyathi at a media and advocacy meeting organised by Hope for a Child in Christ (HOCIC) to mark the International Women's Day.

Nyathi said during community gatherings, most women from the district and whose husbands are based in South and Botswana were always complaining of sexual starvation saying their husbands were not coming back on time to "sexually service them".

"During our community gatherings, some married women are always complaining of sexual hunger saying their husbands who have migrated to South Africa and Botswana were taking long to come back and perform their duties.

These women end up having sex with herdboys because they are sexually starved. Honestly speaking how do these husbands who go for about a year expect their pretty wives to survive?" she queried adding that those women had feelings so they would be left with no option but to engage in sex with the young boys who work for them.

Nyathi said the situation usually led to the increase in GBV cases especially in December when those men (injivas) returned home and found their wives pregnant or hear through rumours that they have been sleeping with other men.

"Most times when the husbands come back after a year or so they hear that their wives have been indulging in extra-marital affairs. They then beat up their wives. In most instances the infuriated husbands end up brutally torturing their wives in their privates," said Nyathi.

She said survivors of GBV also suffer significant health consequences, including unwanted pregnancies, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, physical trauma, and even death.

A representative from a local gender rights advocacy group - Musasa Project said the late reporting of rape — especially in cases where women and girls had also been impregnated - often meant that there was little that authorities could do to terminate such pregnancies and to mitigate diseases such as HIV and Aids.

She revealed that Musasa Project had dealt with 2 817 cases of women abuse in Bulawayo last year.

"What is heart-rending is that if the victims report, they are left stranded with nowhere to go. They tend to seek shelter from our organisations of which we do have these shelters for them but only for a minimum period.

"After counselling them we expect them to go back to their families but they are afraid to face their husbands," said the official who refused to be named citing bureaucracy.

She said that was the reason why in most cases women suffer in silence.

"They are afraid of being beaten again for reporting to us. However, there are other reasons why these women prefer not to report such as being ill-treated by the police who tell them that they have to be patient in marriage so they tend to lose heart in seeking a protection order from the police," she said.

HOCIC programmes officer Sibonisiwe Mpofu said Government should chip in by ensuring that all survivors of GBV are able to access care and support so as to reduce the impact of GBV.

"To address the needs of survivors we appeal to the Government to bring lasting solutions to victims so that they do not fear reporting sexual abuse," suggested Mpofu.

Meanwhile, in Kenya, women once held a serious demo in Limuru, Kiambu County protesting against the dwindling performance of men in the bedroom and their failure to impregnate them.

The women reportedly held a peaceful demonstration claiming that most of their men, including young men had failed to deli their conjugal rights.

They claimed the trend was worsened by high levels of alcohol consumption which has seen many men abandon their families before calling on government to make strict laws restricting drinking from 5pm to 11pm for week days and 2pm-11pm for weekends.