ZAWU ON WOZA: In defence of Human Dignity and our civilisation

On the 5th June 2014 Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) won a landslide victory against the Co-Home Affairs Ministers, Attorney General and the Police Commissioner-General for violating their Constitutional and human rights.

When the leaders of WOZA were arrested for protesting against poor service delivery, they were put through horrendous conditions in the cells at Harare Central Police Station. The conditions were so bad to such an extent that toilets were blocked and overflowing. These inhuman and  inhospitable conditions literally put their lives in danger over and above stripping them of their dignity as human beings and more so as mothers.

The Zimbabwe African Women's Union (ZAWU) a women's organ of ZAPU is aware that these conditions which the WOZA women were put through are not a preserve of WOZA leaders but are prevalent in many, if not all Police Stations and prisons in the land. Many healthy women come out of these police stations having contracted diseases due to the poor sanitation. ZAWU deplores in the strongest possible terms the treatment that women of Zimbabwe are subjected to by its government, which does not respect them as human beings.

ZAWU believes that for any society to develop and thrive it needs to uphold the respect and dignity of its female population. These humiliating conditions in the police cells are symptomatic of our society's attitude towards women, but more so the attitude of the government of the day.

ZAWU believes that women's dignity is a worthy cause to fight for, for a society that does not respect its women simply perishes.

As ZAWU we strongly believe in ZAPU's ideology of Human Rightsism. Let me quote part of ZAPU's ideological concept, to highlight where we come from and converge with WOZA. "According to human rightsism, human rights are the soul (essence) of democracy and a compass for developing a democratic state or society. According to human rightsisms governance, democracy is a political system of governance which promotes and protects human rights. In order to promote and protect human rights, democracy can take any form, depending on the social structure of a given society. Human rightsism as an ideology is a compass for guiding the ZAPU government and the people of Zimbabwe, who are the owners of the state, in their mission of developing a democratic state, a state that respects, promotes and respects human rights without distinction of any kind"(ZAPU Ideological concept document: Zapu.org).

Refusing women in police cells to wear undergarments including underpants is a cruel act, which is dehumanising and degrading and which should never be tolerated by any society. No politics, no police and no policy should be allowed to degrade women or any human being in such a horrendous manner.

ZAWU congratulates WOZA in its unrelenting and sterling fight against injustices which rob and deny the people of Zimbabwe their basic human rights. WOZA's fight against violators of the people's Human Rights is ZAWU's fight.

WOZA's win at the Constitutional Court means that the rest of Zimbabwe has won, but we are aware of the government which we are dealing with, it is a government which does not care for the rule of law, therefore we will only celebrate when the ruling is being implemented and women dignity restored.