Online Reporter
Latwell Nyangu
CASES of femicide have raised serious concern and alarm among women, girls, and child rights advocates.
This follows recent reports in which families have been killed as a result of domestic disputes.
In a statement, Shamwari Yemwanasikana, a girl child movement, said the country is facing a femicide crisis in which 13 women and children have been killed in three months, allegedly as a result of domestic disputes.
“These deaths, recorded in places such as Chikanga, Nkulumane, Southlea Park, Shamva, Hatfield, Glen View and Darwendale, and even involving a Zimbabwean family in the United Kingdom, show that homes are no longer safe for women and girls.
“Among the victims are a pregnant woman, a serving police officer, a mother and her two daughters, as well as two young girls aged five and two.
“What we are witnessing is no longer just domestic disputes, but femicide, where minor disagreements over childcare or family matters escalate into brutal killings involving weapons such as hammers, axes, firearms and fire, with children also becoming victims,” the movement said.
Shamwari Yemwanasikana said it believes that if a girl grows up watching her mother being killed by her father, her future is severely damaged.
“Our deepest concern now is child protection. Even after surviving these killings, children still want to continue with life.
“Many of them witnessed their mothers being murdered and are now orphaned, traumatised, and vulnerable to secondary abuse including neglect, stigma, exploitation, and being shuffled between relatives without proper care.
“We, therefore, urgently call on the Zimbabwe Gender Commission to intervene decisively and use its constitutional mandate to push this crisis to higher offices, including the Office of the President and Cabinet, Parliament, and the Ministry of Women Affairs, to ensure that intimate partner murders are declared a national emergency.
“We further call on the Department of Social Welfare, the Victim Friendly Unit, and partners to urgently provide psychosocial support, safe shelter, and long-term care plans for surviving children.
“This is necessary to protect them from secondary abuse and to guarantee their right to continue living, to remain in education, and to heal,” the statement added.
