Midlands Province steps up fight against social ills

THE Midlands Province is battling to contain incidents of gender-based violence (GBV), harmful practices, and new HIV infections with official statistics showing an upward surge in such cases.

The mineral-rich province is heavily populated with artisanal gold miners coming from all corners of the country.

During a roll out of the High-Level Political Compact (HLPC) in the province last Wednesday, it was established that the major hot spots of these cases are mining and farming areas.

The HLPC was crafted by the Government through the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprises Development to alleviate all forms of GBV and harmful practices by 2030.

President Mnangagwa signed the policy document together with key stakeholders as a commitment to end all forms of GBV.

The stakeholders meeting which was attended by officials from various Government departments, non-governmental organisations, and traditional leaders among others, who sought to develop an action plan drawn from the HLPC for use in the province to tackle GBV cases.

Ms Agnes Muwuya of Musasa Midlands Chapter said her organisation handled a total of 1 874 cases of violence in the province from January to June 2023.

Of these, 811 were of physical violence, sexual abuse 735, emotional abuse 49, and economic abuse 279 cases.

The Musasa Safe Shelter in Gweru also provided shelter to 133 victims of GBV during the same period.

The most prevalent form of sexual abuse involved older men having sex with minor girls and child marriages.

Of the reported physical abuse cases, 90 percent of them were between intimate partners either in a relationship or married couples.

Ms Muwuya said it was worrying to note that 90 percent of the sexual violence cases were against young and adolescent females aged between 10 and 24 years.

“It is a worrying trend that young girls from the age of 10 years are having their sexual debut early especially with elderly men. This then has a relationship with HIV infections as most girls are left exposed to contracting HIV,” she said.

Ms Mawuya said studies have shown that the majority of the cases emanate from mining and farming communities.

National Aids Council (NAC) Kwekwe District Coordinator, Mr Thamsanqa Sitsha said the gold-rich district has a higher prevalence of HIV at a rate of 9,6 percent among the young and adolescent girls.

According to NAC, Kwekwe district recorded 2 267 new HIV infection cases, the majority of them being young and adolescent girls and elderly men.

A total of 125 young women and adolescent girls aged between 14 and 25, tested positive while only 13 boys of the same age group tested positive.

Mr Sitsha said HIV is affecting more women than men in the district hence more needs to be done to ensure the safety of women.

“The young men and adolescent girls are having sexual intercourse with boys of their age and also elderly men, which spreads the risk of contracting HIV across the board,” he said.

Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister, Cde Owen Ncube, who was represented by the chief accountant in his office Mr Vincent Mushange, said the province was under siege from GBV cases, mostly perpetrated by artisanal miners.

“Midlands is a mining province with artisanal miners coming from all over the country to mine here. We have places like the Mazvihwa area, Zhombe and Silobela where GBV cases are prevalent. We need to come up with different strategies to reach all corners of the province to create a society free from violence,” he said.

“Government is working with all key stakeholders and traditional leaders to come up with plans to take HLPC beyond the spotlight initiative to protect the safety of women and girls from perpetrators.”

Acting chief director in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Mrs Matilda Singende, said the HLPC was formulated as a way of bridging gaps in the existing policy frameworks meant to eradicate all forms of GBV.

“There is, therefore, a need to align the legal frameworks and the constitution with the issue of age limit coming to the fore,” she said.

Zhombe Chief Ndabezinhle Gwesela said men should be engaged in the fight against GBV

“Men play a leading role in this fight and most organisations are formulating policies that are targeting women and girls leaving out the perpetrators who should be engaged in this fight,” he said.

“In my area, they know very well that I do not tolerate GBV, child marriages, and other social ills. I make sure that I punish those who perpetrate such crimes. I will continue doing that so that we protect our women and girls.”