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Hazel Marimbiza
At 28, Elizabeth Moyo* looks fragile and defenceless. She is among the patients at Plumtree District Hospital.
The woman from Marula Village, Bulilima District, Matabeleland South Province has been housed at the hospital for a week after her husband stabbed her on her back and legs with a knife.
Events of the horrendous incident are still fresh in her mind and she dreads having to face her violent husband.
Lying on her hospital bed Moyo recounts her ordeal.
“We just had a minor argument and before I could fathom anything my husband reached for a knife and started stabbing me. I screamed and this alerted the neighbours who came to my rescue,” said a teary Moyo.
She has lost count of how many times she has been physically abused by her husband.
“When we were dating he would insult me and slap me if I angered him, but he would quickly apologise and I would also forgive him. I wish I could have left him by then. Now the problem is even if I want to leave him I have nowhere to go,” said Moyo.
Moyo’s predicament — the lack of a safe space in the community after one has been a victim of gender-based violence — is faced by several other women in the country.
As such, a gender-based violence (GBV) peer educator has urged men to fight against gender-based violence everyday of their lives to reduce exploitation of women by men.
Ziphongezipho Ndebele, a managing director at Padare/ Enkundleni men’s forum said men should be forerunners in shunning GBV as most violence was perpetrated by them.
“Ending violence in our communities is a responsibility of the whole community and it is significant that men and boys are active participants and promoters of change so as to get rid of the current status quo,” said Ndebele.
Ndebele expressed great concern at GBV that is directed at women and girls by men, citing that it resulted in a large part of women’s subordinate status in society.
“GBV devastates the lives of women, girls, families and communities, especially in rural Zimbabwe,” said Ndebele.
He added that Padare recognised that equality between women and men was a fundamental principle of international law as established in the United Nations (UN) Charter, hence achieving a gender violence free environment was a societal responsibility that must fully engage both men and women.
“The prevailing situation is that women’s lower social status results in them being marginalised from or inadequately represented in decision making.
“This lack of representation leads to their not being in control of processes, structures and outcomes of society such that they become beneficiaries rather than agents of social change. As beneficiaries, they are therefore not able to voice or exercise their choices at domestic and public level,” said Ndebele.
Padare had initiated programmes in which educators work with men in Bulawayo where they provide training on positive and caring fatherhood which aims at building capacity in terms of skills, knowledge and attitude on the role of men as caring partners in promoting gender equality and positive behaviour.
He applauded the men who have since taken noticeable strides in ending GBV.
“I know of a 48-year-old man who runs a gym whose aim is to have men meet not only to exercise but to discuss and educate each other on how to end GBV.
There are also men who channel their resources into making sure they educate other men especially those in rural areas and those who are in prison for GBV offences to shun violence. Through these men’s initiatives perpetrators’ attitudes towards women have been changed,” said Ndebele.
According to research GBV is one of the most persistent violations of human rights across the globe.
Research by the World Health Organisation, states that, about one third of women worldwide have experienced violence.
This has seen the development of gender sensitive legislations and policies including the Domestic Violence Act and establishment of the Anti-Domestic Violence Council.
According to the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Zimbabwe has also ratified various international and regional instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development and the African Union Women Protocol as part of efforts to end GBV.
*Not her real name.
Online Reporter
Londile Moyo