Chronicle Editor
Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Senior Health Reporter
SHE grew up seeing her aunt being physically abused and like in some Zimbabwean families, the issue was swept under the carpet to protect their in-law.
Countless times the aunt was told to persevere in her marriage and not report the abusive husband who continued to batter her with impunity.
The same aunt had a daughter who got raped while in primary school but the family chose silence to avoid exposing the relative who abused the girl.
A meeting was held after the rape incident and it was agreed the aunt should not “embarrass” the family by reporting the abuse.
Years went by and Ms Rejoice Nkomo realised that if she did not stand up to speak against violence in her family, no one would as her aunt continued in that abusive relationship even to date.
Unlike a majority of abused women who end up dying at the hands of intimate partners, her aunt survived and was eventually freed from abuse after Ms Nkomo took a bold step and reported the issues happening in her family to the police.
This cycle of abuse fueled by deliberate silence troubled Ms Nkomo who successfully became one of the Start Awareness, Support and Action (SASA) champions for Ward 3 in Plumtree where GBV is prevalent.
SASA means “now” in Swahili and is being implemented by the National Aids Council to address HIV prevalence and GBV in communities in partnership with donors.
After a two-week training programme, champions are tasked with raising awareness and changing uneven power dynamics between gender for 36 months.
Their tasks also include taking action to prevent HIV/Aids and violence against women.
Plumtree has the highest HIV prevalence rate at 22 percent and has the leading number of new HIV cases being reported in Zimbabwe.
“The culture of silence always prevailed in my family and I grew up knowing that abused women should not report their partners as that was a sign of weakness.
My family would continuously tell my aunt to persevere and save her marriage but I could tell she was suffering,’ said Ms Nkomo.
“After I graduated I became a SASA champion in 2018 and the first thing I did was to report my abusive relatives because this world needs people who will shun GBV at all costs.
I am operating from a crowded suburb near the border called George Silundika or Murambatsvina.
There are real challenges there but I usually find the bravado to approach rowdy residents and educate them on the dangers of GBV and how it easily fuels HIV and Aids.”
She said the area is also home to sex workers who are willing to engage in transactional sex even just for a plate of food.
“I also deal with a lot of women whose husbands live outside the country and make it difficult for them to negotiate for safe sex whenever they come home.
Through SASA we have managed to educate the community on the importance of HIV testing even among couples, PrEP and safe sex so that we avert the spread of HIV.
We also have a number of young women who drop out of school and end up becoming sex workers since this is a busy town,” said Ms Nkomo.
Besides the awareness, Ms Nkomo also mentors GBV survivors to start businesses as means to address low self-esteem which can force them to stay in abusive relationships.
When she started the SASA project, Ms Nkomo also started a meal delivery business and would deliver to her clients. To date she has managed to grow and opened a restaurant within Plumtree where she employed some survivors she met during the project.
“As SASA champions we were also expected to be role models hence I started a business which has grown into a thriving restaurant.
We have so much negative things happening in my community but at least there is hope. From the time we started, people are now free to report GBV and we even do outreach programmes in all schools to raise awareness against sexual harassment.”
Ms Nkomo added: “We are now trying to address rape which normally occurs among primary school girls since we have a lot of cultural men who still believe that bedding virgins will bring them riches or cure them from diseases like HIV.
It’s such practices that keep HIV cases up and we will continue engaging communities to join hands and fight GBV which will eventually lead to a decreased prevalence and new cases.”
The National Aids Council Mangwe district Aids coordinator Mr John Ngwenya said the SASA programme has made a huge impact on HIV related issues in the district which covers Plumtree town and 23 wards.
“As a district we set targets which we are working on with community strengthening programmes like SASA, DREAMS, Youth in School, Youth out of School and many others.
Plumtree is booming in terms of business but only a third of people here are locals, the rest are from outside whose behaviours are pushing our HIV cases and prevalence.
GBV however is a major worry and it prompted us to start SASA and we trained 30 community leaders to address prevalent stereotypes,” said Mr Ngwenya.
“Our SASA champions have helped start dialogues around social ills that have been fueling abuse of women with help from the Ministry of Women Affairs.
So much ground has been covered.
We have also managed to get young people who are out of school to start businesses as they are mentored by SASA champions like Rejoice who continue to bring hope to our communities,” said Mr Ngwenya. — @thamamoe
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