Worried by the rising prevalence of cases of gender-based and domestic violence in Mashonaland Central Province, the Institute for Young Women’s Development has come up with a Provincial Project for Peace to foster tolerance in families and communities.
The plan culminated from research carried out recently by IYWD and will be driven by a voluntary stakeholders’ committee formed last Thursday in Bindura.
The committee includes individuals drawn from the traditional leadership, the church, government and ordinary villagers. It is preparing a consultative document to be presented to the Provincial Minister of State and other related government ministries before end of the year, to inform policy formulation and provide benchmarks in the fight against domestic and gender-based violence (GBV).
IYWD founder Glanis Changachirere, speaking at the launch of the research’s findings, noted with concern that Mashonaland Central, rated as one of the most politically volatile provinces, had an alarming high level of domestic and other forms of GBV.
Peace committees
“It is shocking to note that, according to reliable sources in the judiciary system, an average seven domestic violence cases are reported every day. What makes the situation more worrisome is the fact that 67 percent of the cases would be gender-based, a rise from the recorded 51 percent for previous years,” Changachirere said, calling upon stakeholders to join forces and reduce violence to zero levels.
According to Changachirere, the Action Plan would complement efforts being made on the ground by peace committees formed by her organisation. Each of the province’s four districts, Shamva, Guruve, Mazowe and Bindura, has two peace committees made up of traditional leaders and villagers. The committees identify cases of violence and help ensure that justice is done.
Gillian Chinzete, IYWD programmes officer, said the research sampled views of some 400 people aged 18-35 drawn from across the gender divide. She identified causes of violence as poverty, marital infidelity, lack of financial transparency, patriarchy, religion, traditional beliefs and cultural practices which subordinate women to men.
Women were cited as the major victims of other forms of violence to do with politics, rape and dehumanising actions by political elements.
Discriminative land allocation against women, denial of access to agriculture inputs and relief food on the basis of one’s political affiliation were among the prevalent forms of violence against women and girls experienced in the province.
Humiliated
There were concerns that case reporting procedures would in some instances extend violence against the survivors as they would either be humiliated by police and other authorities or subjected to long and winding legal procedures before the case reaches finality.
The IYWD research found that violence would result in bodily harm, loss of self-esteem, confidence and self-respect by the victim. In some cases it leads to loss of property, divorce, lack of family and community cohesion, poverty, trauma and stress, unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS and death.
Respective stakeholders such as the Police, traditional leadership, arms of the local government such as the District Administrator, Women’s Affairs and civil society among others were called upon to professionally play their respective roles.
Lengthy custodial sentences against perpetrators of violence, locally initiated ownership of mechanisms to mitigate violence against women and improved social safety nets to protect women as well as transport them to appropriate places of safety were recommended.
Participants at the launch of the research’s findings called on government to re-train the police in issues to do with GBV and the provisions of the constitution.
Post published in: Gender Equality