Chronicle Editor
Hazel Marimbiza
In February this year there was hype on social media over a lecturer at the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) who threatened to fail a first-year student if she refused his sexual advances. He also tried to turn her into his “pimp”, as he asked her to scout for female students for him and fellow lecturers to prey on.
Mr Gerald Kwinjo is said to have repeatedly asked his victim to come for beer drinking sessions and went to the extent of requesting that she abandons school work so she can be with him.
This incident is just one example of many women who experience sextortion. Other examples of such abuses of power include; government officials who request sexual favours to obtain licences or permits and employers who make providing sexual favours a condition of obtaining a job.
As used to describe an abuse of power, sextortion is a form of gender based violence (GBV) in which people entrusted with power — such as government officials, judges, educators, law enforcement personnel, and employers — seek to extort sexual favours in exchange for something within their authority to grant or withhold.
Sextortion — in which sex, rather than money, is the currency of the bribe — is not yet legally recognised as a form of GBV in Zimbabwe and in most cases there is an assumption that two people agreed to engage in a sexual relationship — which ignores the imbalance of power between the perpetrator and the victim/survivor.
Speaking at an event organized by Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ), last Friday which was meant to create awareness on sextortion as a form of GBV, TIZ advocacy officer, Mr Njabulo Moyo called on lawmakers to recognise sextortion as a form of GBV as many women suffer from this abuse.
“What is most heartrending is that there is not much justice when women are abused because for example Zimbabwean universities do not have a clear policy for identifying and addressing cases of sextortion,” said Mr Moyo.
Such cases are usually reported to the faculty chairperson, and a team of lecturers leads the investigation.
In the case of the HIT it was confirmed that Mr Kwinjo had been found guilty, although the institution’s director of communications and international relations, Mr Tinashe Mutema was non-committal about the punishment that had been handed to Mr Kwinjo.
The Provincial Development Coordinator of Bulawayo Metropolitan Affairs, Mr Dingani Dhlomo said while Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world in campaigning against GBV, a lot needs to be done to combat sextortion as it affects the health of victims and survivors.
‘Sextortion is a menace because it is a form of GBV in which the powerful dominate and take advantage of the inferior. In most cases women bear the brunt of sextortion. At the end, the women are afraid to report such issues which results in dementia, depression and madness,” said Mr Dhlomo.
According to TIZ, Zimbabwe has recorded an unprecedented number of women reporting being forced to exchange sex for education, employment or business favours.
More than 57 percent of women surveyed, said they had been forced to offer sexual favours in exchange for jobs, medical care and even when seeking placements at schools for their children.
According to the report women in the informal sector experienced sextortion as the main form of non-monetary bribes by various officials.
About 45 percent of women said they had received requests for sexual favours to access a service and 15 percent had used sex to get employment. The report, entitled Gender and Corruption, found women were increasingly vulnerable to sexual abuse amid the prevailing economic challenges in the country.
“57,5 percent of these respondents noted that sexual favours are the form of non-monetary bribe they had experienced. Sextortion is thus a part of the bribery culture in Zimbabwe. Women who do not have money to pay for bribes are thus forced to use sex as a form of payment,” reads the report.
Women in business were also found to have faced sexual harassment when seeking government tenders.
“At times you get asked for sexual favours in return for tenders or business. What makes the situation difficult, especially for state contracts, is how women in business are perceived by men in control of these processes.
When they see a woman, for most of them sex is the first thing that comes to their mind. Hence women are sexualised and seen as sex-preneurs rather than entrepreneurs,” TIZ reports.
Sextortion is a global phenomenon that causes serious harm, robbing women of dignity and opportunity, and undermining confidence in public institutions, according to rights groups.
Not only are grown women affected, but also very young girls who are in most cases less privileged.
Unathi Children’s Network programmes manager, Mrs Sukoluhle Ndlovu, said most children who live near mining areas are also victims of sextortion.
“These children come from poor families, in fact most of them are from child headed families so you find young girls going to mine workers to ask for food and in turn they get raped,” said Mrs Ndlovu.
With many women being sexually coerced in different ways, the question which seems to have inadequate answers is what can be done to end sextortion?
Women Association of Survivors spokesperson, Ms Kudakwashe Kunze, said it’s very hard to deal with sexual harassment because it is institutionalised, and women have been suffering for a long time.
“Women are being coerced into sex, while many fear reporting sextortionists as some police are thought to be part of the abusive chain.
“We have cases of girls who get raped and in some instances when they report the issue the police officers offer their assistance in exchange of sex. It’s really sad because women really don’t know where to go and report.
“The only way is for Government to actively deal with all forms of sexual harassment in all sectors,” said Ms Kunze.
For some women it is fear of reprisals that stops them from reporting while others indicate that there is no benefit in reporting sextortion.
Mrs Thandekile Moyo, a Bulawayo resident said the problem is if she goes and reports that she has been abused she will not be taken seriously especially if she cannot bribe the police.
“When I report that I have been sexually abused the police say I should go and bring the perpetrator.
Now I have to go back and face that person who abused me and the person will even start mocking me, so I just end up apologising for reporting them.
Sometimes police officers require some form of payment to help me.
“They may ask for transport or fuel to enable them to investigate. In the end they also get bribed by the perpetrators,” said Mrs Moyo.
Human Rights Defender and Gender Activist, Mrs Prisca Dube, said victims find it hard to get redress because many justice systems and legal frameworks are poorly equipped for prosecuting sextortion. Furthermore, some police officers are not trained in handling GBV issues, so victims feel let down when they don’t get help after reporting.
“All police officers should be trained on managing cases of GBV. I know of a case where one woman was sexually abused and when she went to report, the officer in charge said he could not attend to the victim because he was responsible for stock theft cases. This makes the victim vulnerable to more abuse,” said Mrs Dube.
Mr Nhlanhla Moyo believes empowering men to be gender champions will help end the scourge of sextortion.
“Men must take the lead in fighting sextortion. Organisations should make them gender champions, because not all men are abusers, there are some who are strongly against GBV,” said Mr Moyo.
TIZ legal practictioner, Ms Thubelihle Ncube said Zimbabwe should be serious in fighting GBV just like it was serious about fighting Covid 19.
“We need policies and measures to fight GBV. That energy that the world put in fighting Covid-19 is the same energy needed to fight GBV,” said Ms Ncube.
According to TIZ research, there is need for Zimbabwe to have a system that protects whistleblowers.
“Many people who are harmed by sextortion don’t report it because social stigma and cultural taboos make them scared of being shamed, excluded or even attacked. Importantly, many are put off reporting because of the danger of retaliation — for example reporting their manager for sextorting might get them fired,” reads the research.
To enable adequate prosecution of sextortion and get justice for the affected, TIZ states that all governments should develop a legal definition and framework for sextortion because existing legal frameworks have too many gaps and leave some forms of sexual extortion unaddressed.
Online Reporter