adminMany people especially the so-called fairer sex, women, have been traumatised as a result of domestic violence.
In yesterday’s issue we carried a story where we reported that the number of women counselled in Bulawayo for trauma due to gender-based violence has dramatically increased by more than 100 percent this year.
According to data from the women’s rights group, Musasa Project, the number of women who were counselled at the centre this year shot up from about 700 last year to 1 851 this year.
The report showed that women in the 20 to 29 age group were the most affected as 510 of them were counselled.
The 30 to 39 age group had 424 victims, there were 304 traumatised women in the 40 to 49 age group while 280 women in the more than 50 years age group were counselled.
A total of 63 teenagers aged between 15 and 19 years were counselled as well.
The most common form of abuse suffered by the victims, was psychological or emotional.
We find the trend very disturbing and frightening. We wonder why the increase in the number of gender-based violence when the country has come up with awareness campaigns against the scourge.
The results of domestic violence are dire as they result in the affected developing chronic diseases such as high blood pressure.
Gender-based violence also leads to misery in families as children growing up in such conditions have psychological problems, which result in them in performing badly at school and some even become violent later in life.
Gender-based violence is a silent killer of both victims and marriages in this country, resulting in children living without the two parents. Some children from the broken homes go on to live in the streets while others turn to prostitution.
Domestic violence has no place in our communities as it is retrogressive and barbaric.
What is worrying is that the practice is still largely couched in terms that sanitise it such as “domestic violence”, marital dispute and the worst of them being the flimsy excuse by some men that they would be instilling discipline in their wives.
Our plea is that victims of abuse must come out and report their abusers so that we put a stop to this growing evil. It is quite shocking that violence seems to be higher among the younger generation than the older ones, though this could also mean that only younger couples report such cases while older ones prefer to keep the abuse under wraps. Spouses that are abused in relationships, whether male or female, should take comfort from the fact that the law protects them equally and hence should report such cases and where possible go for counseling.
Our police officers should also be capacitated to handle such cases with the utmost sensitivity so that victims feel free to report cases of abuse. We should adopt zero tolerance to gender-based violence by ensuring that we have 365 days of activism against gender violence to protect our children and adults, and ultimately the overall well-being of our nation that is constituted by the countless family units whose cohesion violence weighs down upon.
Online Reporter