ZIMBABWE: Gender Violence Under Spotlight

THIRTY-TWO year-old Chipo Banda (not her real name) has lost count of the number of times she has had to lie to explain to workmates how she periodically spots swollen eyes, scars and bruises that have become constant features on her face. None of her friends know that her disfigured face is a result of beatings from her husband for what she described as “silliest of reasons”.
But this week she opened up to The Financial Gazette although she declined to have her real identity revealed in order to protect her family.

“Last week when I cooked vegetables for supper the guy freaked why I had not cooked some meat when he was fully aware that there was no meat in the house. When I pointed it out to him an argument ensued and I was severely beaten,” she said, avoiding eye contact with this reporter as she fought back tears.

Married under customary law in 2000, what Banda had thought would be a blissful life has turned into a nightmare.
Despite the physical and emotional abuse, she is still dedicated to her husband and sometimes even strongly feels she must have somehow done something wrong to deserve the beatings.

Like many women with abusive husbands, Banda cannot muster the courage to report him to the police because she feels being the main breadwinner, getting her husband arrested would be detrimental to their children's welfare.

Banda is one of many Zimbabwean women that quietly suffer as they physically get abused by men that are close to them.
And to help raise awareness to the plight of women living in abusive marriages and families, Zimbabweans are joining the rest of the world in commemorating 16 days against Gender-based violence, which started last week.

According to Media reports, cases of domestic violence and child rape are on a steep rise.

It is now rare for one to open a newspaper and not come across a case or two of women that have been brutally assaulted by their husbands or children that have been raped by a close relative.

Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) representative, Merit Rumema attributes this rise to poverty among other things.

“Obviously a number of factors are contributing to the rise in such brutal behaviour, and total disregard for women and children's lives. In a quick telephone survey I carried, witchcraft, poor communication between married couples and a general breakdown in the rule of law are the major contributing factors of gender based-violence in Zimbabwe,” Rumema wrote on the ZWLA website.

She added that police were slow in reacting to cases of gender based violence citing a case where the police arrived late after the rapist had escaped.

She however, said there is now increased awareness regarding gender-based violence as stakeholders embarked on programmes to stop the scourge.

The United Nations Children Fund still points out that a combination of an inflexible approach to cultural and traditional practices; an economic downturn that has seen women become the chief breadwinners as men are made unemployed; and odious beliefs on HIV and virgins had meant gender based violence remained common in Zimbabwe.

The increases in gender-based violence appear to stem from traditional practices and principles that include the subjugation of women, and that it is culturally permissible for a man to physically “discipline” his wife and children.

Also, Zimbabwe's difficult economic situation has meant more and more women are becoming breadwinners while a large number of men remain at home. This reversal of roles has led some men into venting their economic frustrations on women.

Zimbabwe's HIV prevalence rate stands at 14,26 percent with more than half of this figure being women and girls.

Driving this vulnerable group into being physically abused is the misguided belief that if men sleep with virgins they will be cured of their HIV status.