Various presenters and discussants were invited to share academic papers concerning gender-based violence in Zimbabwe. The presentation by Edith Maziofa got me thinking. She began by pointing out the alarming number of headlines that report sexual assault, murder and violence against women, girls and most distressingly infants.
I remember vividly reading about the case of the man who raped his friends four-year-old daughter in a collapsed grave. The man was found by his friends wife, who reported the matter to the police. At the time of reporting the man had escaped apprehension and was on the run. Discussing the article with some friends, we concluded that it had to have been some sort of ritual, burial sites being sacred in our culture. But what disturbed me the most was that the four year olds father was not to be found anywhere in the story. He was not reported to be outraged, or disowning his friend. It was the mother who reported the rape to the police, the mother who stood outraged at the gravesite with a crowd, the mother who was going to court to seek justice for her child. But where was her husband?
In her presentation, Maziofa noted that the high incidence of these articles, spoke to an even higher prevalence of abuse against women and children. She discussed the decline of the womens movement, which reached its peak in the 1990s when it influenced the drafting of a new constitution, the drafting of a national gender policy, and the promulgation of the Domestic violence act.
Despite the remarkable laws protecting women and children, the high media reportage of GBV shows that gender inequality is still deeply entrenched in Zimbabwe. Maziofa queried how well these laws actually worked in protecting vulnerable women and children.
She went further to point out that the gender imbalances in our society impact negatively on income distribution, and noted that despite the widely publicised womens empowerment movement, economic control and ownership is still male dominated.
Politically this imbalance has serious ramifications. Take for example the unquestioning endorsement by the Zanu (PF) Womens League of Robert Mugabe. I have yet to be made aware of any debate regarding the suitability of Amai Mujuru for Chairperson of Zanu (PF) or indeed, any woman for any government or party position that is responsible for making any real political or national decisions. Despite rhetoric to the contrary, and in particular from this quarter, women are still underrepresented in politics, yet they have the loudest voices when it come to endorsing decisions already made by men.
Are women in politics not capable of making decisions on their own? – Kubatana
Post published in: Opinions