Chronicle Editor
Lumbidzani Dima, Chronicle Reporter
AS the world evolves, traditional stereotypes that have always existed are not vanishing; instead, they are affecting women in the most brutal manner.
The gospel of eradicating the abuse of women and girls has been preached, but cases of gender-based violence (GBV), rape, early child marriages and human trafficking remain on the rise in Zimbabwe, the Southern Africa region and the world over.
This has led the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO) female officers across Southern Africa countries to come together under “Operation Basadi.”
Basadi, meaning women in Setswana, is an operation focusing on combating crimes such as rape, assault, human trafficking, domestic violence, child labour and baby dumping, among other crimes. The operation was started in August 2013. This year the three-day operation started yesterday and ends tomorrow.
As part of the operation, police in Bulawayo moved around the city centre yesterday conducting “Operation Basadi” as part of efforts to end GBV.
During the operation, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) women’s network, Chief Superintendent Lethiwe Mhandu said women are the most affected by GBV.
“After the operation we will evaluate its impact and see what we have achieved when it comes to cases of violence against women and children. We are not saying there is no violence against men and boys, it’s there and we are looking into those cases as well, but we all know that women are the most affected,” said Chief Supt Mhandu.
She encouraged people to resolve their differences through traditional structures or through the police.
Chief Supt Mhandu said there are rising cases of human trafficking after people are promised scholarships and job opportunities outside the country.
“We have fake scholarships and jobs whereby people are told that there is a job outside the country. Everything is arranged for them to travel but at the end of the day they are used as sex workers. Children are being turned into sex workers and we can’t even locate them. So, simply let us verify and vet these so-called travel agents that are facilitating travel arrangements,” said Chief Supt Mhandu.
She reminded people that child marriages remain a crime in Zimbabwe. Everyone below the age of 18 is legally a child.
According to the last year’s estimates by the United Nations, nearly one in three women aged 15 and older around the world has been subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner, non-partner or both, at least once in their lifetime, indicating that levels of violence against women and girls have remained largely unchanged over the last decade.
“These numbers do not reflect the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and would be even higher if they included the full continuum of violence that affect women and girls including sexual harassment, violence in digital contexts, harmful practices and sexual exploitation,” says the UN.
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