Time for a Revolution for Women in Zimbabwe : No more Delay

Violence against women remains rampant and continues to corrode the fabric of our society,irrespective of constitutional laws that were established and enshrined just this last year to observe the rule of law,the rights to personal security,human dignity, personal liberty and freedoms against torture or cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.This status quo is sustained by societal,institutional and structural discrimination making our nation to date one of the worst affected in Africa.

As a young woman who has been subjected to gender based violence,l felt it was imperative to put pen to paper to raise the voice of the girl child by speaking out against the victimisation and sexual harassment perpetrated recently towards a young woman in Harare who was stripped in broad daylight by touts and was video taped in the process.The aim is to express the fears we have as women as violence continues to prevail and becomes widespread, despite international awareness of this problem and promises by nations including our own to fight violence against women. We continue daily to suffer from it at the hands of the communities to which we belong as well as from our own families and state agents. There is a cavalier attitude towards taking responsibility,many a times there are attempts to justify ,ignore or deny this problem. We see the perpetrators often aided  to escape punishment  and the victims receiving no reparation. There is dire need to thus consider for the overall good of all the sort of legacy we wish to leave behind for future generations. There is need to alter and condemn in the strongest terms certain  social attitudes in our communities that tolerate and condone violence of this nature. lnorder to achieve this end, women must be educated on their legal rights and thereafter the entire community enlightened on the benefits of affording better protection towards them.

However as women we must rise above being just victims but come together to find common ground on how we can work towards protecting ourselves,to find means to collectively push for treaties and laws that will commit our governments further to change discriminatory practices. Are we in agreement that our own government has done enough to tackle our problems,do we feel that our prior position of inferior statuses have been redressed and gender equality is now the order of the day? Have we followed up on whether the stipulations by the UN Elimination of Violence instruments have been met? if so why then do we see more and more cases of continued subjection to inhumane and degrading treatment happening daily in public spaces,work places and homes?many of these acts going unprosecuted.

Notably violence comes in many forms,it can be physical,sexual or psychological.To date it is estimated that one in three women in the world will suffer or has suffered some form of violence in their lifetime,Africa being the hardest hit due to the quagmire of oppressive cultures that are still in practice today as well as the weak mechanisms put in place to tackle and prevent gender based violence.The struggle against violence must not be seen as just a womens issue,it is a responsibility to us all and the time for complacency and excuses must come to an end.There have been regional efforts to combat this problem which have made strides in the provision of systematic remedies,such as the one spearheaded by the UN "Africa UniTe campaign"we need more of the same replicated down to the nucleus of our communities to continue empowering and giving knowledge to women from all walks of life to stop gender based violence and demand accountability.

In ending,my own suggestions after viewing the Rwandan case study is that as Zimbabwean women and girls we follow suit and lobby for the instalment of gender desks in all police stations which will have trained women assisting and investigating our cases to provide for evidence in court proceedings.These desks for the Rwandan women have directly resulted in improved reporting and responses to these crimes.There comes a point where we have to ask ourselves the Name of the law and say enough is enough!!!

Minenhle Gumede
Secretary for Young Women in Politics Forum(YWPF)
Provincial Secretary for MDC Bulawayo Youth Assembly.