A veteran of the 1970s liberation struggle and now a leader of a movement that champions the rights of men in society, Misi feels Zimbabwe has done enough to advance the cause of women while neglecting the problems that confront men every day.
Misi was driven to be part of Varume Svinurai, a men’s forum founded in 2010, after realising that men were being given a raw deal in society and at work. Now Chairman of the outfit, Misi said Zimbabwean men were an endangered species, because they do not have protection from the courts and police.
Misi said he had been motivated to stand up for men after realizing how men were being abused by women in his neighbourhood.
“It is time men came out open. It is sad that society has come to believe that only women can be abused by men. Even our courts tend to be lenient when dealing with women but very harsh when dealing with men,” said Misi. “Many men are suffering in silence.”
Those men in law enforcement should know that men can be abused. “In 2011, a research by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with Safaids showed that boys were abused more than girls in tertiary institutions. But nothing has been done.”
Misi said it was not all about abuse, but also about being denied opportunities.
“The belief is perpetrated by saying such as, ‘If you educate a boy, you educate an individual, if you educate a girl, you educate the nation’. This is not true, if men were as selfish as people think, Zimbabwe would never be where it is today.”
The war veteran said men’s woes were being compound by feminists who saw them as a group of men intending to reverse the gains made by female emancipation.
“We support women and we are working in solidarity with them.” Misi lambasted the draft constitution that was voted for in a referendum of March 16 saying it lacked provisions to deal with men.
Post published in: News