News / National
'Life in jail for rapists'
29 Nov 2014 at 12:20hrs | Views
A CABINET committee set up to look at the issue of sexual abuse and gender-based violence has recommended life imprisonment for rapists, an official has said.
Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development minister Oppah Muchinguri disclosed this during the national launch of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence in Harare yesterday.
She said the Cabinet Ministerial Committee on Rape and Gender Based Violence did research which showed that rape was on the increase because of a number of factors such as lack of deterrent sentences and inconsistent sentences.
"Convictions varied from 40 year sentences to one year or even community service," Muchinguri said.
"The proposals, which will soon be presented to Cabinet and shared with key stakeholders, were that rape of children between zero and 12 years should attract life imprisonment (and) rape committed by someone who knows he is HIV+, and gang rape crimes should attract life sentences."
She said they also proposed rape committed by first offenders and sodomy should attract 30-year sentences. Sodomy, when someone knew they were HIV+, would attract a life sentence.
Muchinguri said she got very emotional when she saw convicted rapist RMG Independent End Time Message leader Robert Martin Gumbura on ZTV bragging that the 11 wives he had were not enough and he wanted more.
"Gumbura's victims and those young wives need counselling. I do not know if there are members of his church here, and if they are present, I would like to pray for them because what they are practising is not Christianity," Muchinguri said.
She suggested Zimbabwe should adopt practices where habitual sex offenders were injected with a vaccine to kill their sexual desires in order to curb their insatiable appetite.
According to statistics given by Muchinguri, during the months of June to October, around 4 379 cases of rape were reported, of which 3 046 were committed by juveniles.
She, however, said many cases went unreported.
President of the Chiefs'Council Fortune Charumbira said traditional leaders had suggested that on top of the deterrent sentences, courts should demand that victims of rape be compensated by the perpetrators.
Charumbira also suggested that impregnating or sleeping with a girl and then dumping her later should be outlawed and included in the statute books as criminal activity.
"Victims should be compensated by the impregnator because virginity would be lost and the girl loses value in the eyes of the community. Even impregnating a girl and later dumping her should be criminalised because why sleep with her in the first place?" Charumbira queried.
He described rapists as "worse than Satan", adding there was no culture that valorised rape in Zimbabwe.
"It is only in the animal kingdom that male dogs mate with bitches (female dogs) without first asking for permission to do so. That cannot be accepted in humans — there are boundaries as to which woman one can touch. A woman's body is sacrosanct and cannot be touched anyhow and by anyone.
That is why we have lobola as a control mechanism to ensure if a man wants a woman, there are proper procedures to follow in order to get her," Charumbira said.
Musasa director Netty Musanhu said 25% of women and girls in Zimbabwe experienced gender-based violence, adding that relatives, neighbours and trusted people like pastors and teachers were the main perpetrators.
She said projects to build safe shelters for victims had been successfully supported by communities such as Marange, Defe, Mwenezi, Buhera, Gutu, Chinhoyi and others were cases of early child marriages, rape and gender-based violence were prevalent.
Musanhu challenged churches to speak on issues of gender-based violence, saying they concentrated more on how men should be well looked after by women, and castigated the police for ill-treating victims of gender based violence by asking them to bring the perpetrators when reporting the cases.
United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) representative Choice Damiso, who read a speech on behalf of country representative Yu Yu, said while Zimbabwe had shown eagerness to end gender-based violence and had legal frameworks, there was a large gap in ensuring women and girls knew where to access sexual and reproductive help, as well as achieving gender parity at all levels.
Damiso said 1 489 survivors had accessed services at UNFPA safe shelters to date.
Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development minister Oppah Muchinguri disclosed this during the national launch of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence in Harare yesterday.
She said the Cabinet Ministerial Committee on Rape and Gender Based Violence did research which showed that rape was on the increase because of a number of factors such as lack of deterrent sentences and inconsistent sentences.
"Convictions varied from 40 year sentences to one year or even community service," Muchinguri said.
"The proposals, which will soon be presented to Cabinet and shared with key stakeholders, were that rape of children between zero and 12 years should attract life imprisonment (and) rape committed by someone who knows he is HIV+, and gang rape crimes should attract life sentences."
She said they also proposed rape committed by first offenders and sodomy should attract 30-year sentences. Sodomy, when someone knew they were HIV+, would attract a life sentence.
Muchinguri said she got very emotional when she saw convicted rapist RMG Independent End Time Message leader Robert Martin Gumbura on ZTV bragging that the 11 wives he had were not enough and he wanted more.
"Gumbura's victims and those young wives need counselling. I do not know if there are members of his church here, and if they are present, I would like to pray for them because what they are practising is not Christianity," Muchinguri said.
She suggested Zimbabwe should adopt practices where habitual sex offenders were injected with a vaccine to kill their sexual desires in order to curb their insatiable appetite.
According to statistics given by Muchinguri, during the months of June to October, around 4 379 cases of rape were reported, of which 3 046 were committed by juveniles.
She, however, said many cases went unreported.
President of the Chiefs'Council Fortune Charumbira said traditional leaders had suggested that on top of the deterrent sentences, courts should demand that victims of rape be compensated by the perpetrators.
Charumbira also suggested that impregnating or sleeping with a girl and then dumping her later should be outlawed and included in the statute books as criminal activity.
"Victims should be compensated by the impregnator because virginity would be lost and the girl loses value in the eyes of the community. Even impregnating a girl and later dumping her should be criminalised because why sleep with her in the first place?" Charumbira queried.
He described rapists as "worse than Satan", adding there was no culture that valorised rape in Zimbabwe.
"It is only in the animal kingdom that male dogs mate with bitches (female dogs) without first asking for permission to do so. That cannot be accepted in humans — there are boundaries as to which woman one can touch. A woman's body is sacrosanct and cannot be touched anyhow and by anyone.
That is why we have lobola as a control mechanism to ensure if a man wants a woman, there are proper procedures to follow in order to get her," Charumbira said.
Musasa director Netty Musanhu said 25% of women and girls in Zimbabwe experienced gender-based violence, adding that relatives, neighbours and trusted people like pastors and teachers were the main perpetrators.
She said projects to build safe shelters for victims had been successfully supported by communities such as Marange, Defe, Mwenezi, Buhera, Gutu, Chinhoyi and others were cases of early child marriages, rape and gender-based violence were prevalent.
Musanhu challenged churches to speak on issues of gender-based violence, saying they concentrated more on how men should be well looked after by women, and castigated the police for ill-treating victims of gender based violence by asking them to bring the perpetrators when reporting the cases.
United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) representative Choice Damiso, who read a speech on behalf of country representative Yu Yu, said while Zimbabwe had shown eagerness to end gender-based violence and had legal frameworks, there was a large gap in ensuring women and girls knew where to access sexual and reproductive help, as well as achieving gender parity at all levels.
Damiso said 1 489 survivors had accessed services at UNFPA safe shelters to date.
Source - NewsDay
