Zimbabwe

Harare, 28 July: Oppah Muchinguri, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development spoke yesterday at the 10th SADC Civil Society Forum and the launch of the 2014 SADC Gender Protocol Barometer, which measures progress to achieving the SADC Gender Protocol.

Harare, 29 July: After Zimbabwe Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Oppah Muchinguri, launched the 2014 SADC Gender Protocol Barometer on the eve of the 10th Southern

Harare, 30 July: The 10th SADC Civil Society Forum came to an end today with NGOs and civil society groups tabling their different recommendations for the ‘SADC We Want.’

Given the impact that culture has on individualsÀŸ behaviour and the relation that behaviour especially sexual behaviour has with the spread of HIV/AIDS, the research took a look at the Shona culture and the impact that the married Shona men and their sexual practices had on their wives and the overall relationship/marriage. Interviews were conducted with married Shona women with the aim of getting recent information on the Shona culture and the practices of married Shona men so as to establish the levels of risk and the uncover vulnerabilities that are current. Information obtained from these interviews showed that although the Shona culture promotes certain behaviours amongst married people, some of these practices are being done away with but unfortunately not at a fast enough pace and because of this there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure that risk of infection amongst married Shona couples is reduced and levels of vulnerability are tackled as well.

Ever since I started making my own money, I have stopped begging my abusive and promiscuous husband to love and care for our children.À
These were Xolani Chikwekwete’s remarks, a beneficiary of the Gender Links Entrepreneurship Programme for Gender Based Violence (GBV) survivors aimed at testing whether the economic dependence of women increases their vulnerability to abuse.

This pamphlet provides a brief and accessible introduction to the rights and responsibilities in the Domestic Violence Act in Zimbabwe. The purpose of the Domestic Violence Act is to protect victims and provide measures for prevention. It sets out the responsibilities of various actors towards the domestic violence survivors. These include the police and medical personnel and court officials as well as the Government of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe’s Domestic Violence Act was passed in 2007. This policy brief has been developed in response to identified gaps in the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act which has caused turmoil for many survivors. Many survivors of domestic violence regard the Act as a white elephant as they are not able to use it. The objectives of this Policy Brief are to highlight the gaps that exist in implementation of the Act; these gaps include health service providers, law enforcement, the courts and the lack of shelters. The policy brief contains recommendations as to what policy makers can do to improve the implementation of the Act.

This is a DVD which contains images from a Musasa Project workshop on women’s experiences with gender based violence: Saying it as it is.

Gender based violence is a cause for concern the world over as it has emerged as a serious global health, human rights and development issue. It is a symptom of underlying gender in equalities and power imbalances which knows no boarders it transcends the boundaries of geography, race, culture class and religion, hence affecting every community in the corner of the globe and Zimbabwe in particular. Several strategies have been employed by the Government of Zimbabwe and various pressure groups and lobby organisations to curb gender based violence through establishment of a legal framework and interventions on prevention, treatment and
participation, however, gender based violence remains pervasive. This paper looks at the prevalent forms, pervasiveness and the effects of gender based violence and its relationship to development.

The global community has a multiplicity of challenges and problems that include, amongst others, gender- based violence, which is a global problem. Since the early 1980s, Third World scholars including gender activists have formed interest groups to fight against gender- based violence in all fronts especially in Southern Africa. The purpose of this paper is to analyze different forms of genderbased violence and how women have reacted to violence, taking Botswana, Southern Africa and Zimbabwe as case studies. Gender based violence has increased in statistics and severity over the last ten years and has cut across all age groups. The paper is informed by the ecological model on individuals as perpetrators of violence, relationships, community and society at large as factors crucial in the incidents of GBV (Heise, 1999). Furthermore, the paper is informed by research- based reports on violence, HIV and AIDS and data from anti- HIV and AIDS governmental and non- governmental organizations. The author also conducted an empirical study to add to existing database on GBV. Based on the results of understanding the ecological model, a desk study and an empirical study, the author provides GBV as important for readers to take it as one of the top most agenda for everybody, and especially all stakeholders globally. Social scientists and others who may professionally have the acumen to provide lasting solutions to a problem that has adversely affected humanity are called on board to join the bandwagon in fighting GBV at different levels: individual, relationship, community and society at large.