Second-hand underwear a women’s empowerment issue

Some thought it was the best action ever taken by the inclusive Government as they found the selling of used underwear to be dehumanising and unhygienic.
Informal traders were outraged by the ban saying the move puts their businesses and livelihoods at risk.
There are those who said they preferred used underwear because it is of better quality than the so-called brand new imports from China.
While the ban may have been premised on issues of health and dignity what is of greater concern is that Zimbabweans, particularly women, have to take risks with either their health or their livelihoods.
Underwear is the most important part of women’s clothing and it is very difficult if not impossible for a woman to move around without one.
The underwear saga demonstrates what ZWRCN and other gender justice activists have always been saying – that the issue of women’s empowerment is a basic human rights issue.
Women in the low-income bracket, some of them in the zero income category, will argue that underwear hand-me-downs -local or imported, sold or donated – are not a new phenomenon and are still common in extended families especially the very poor ones.
Simple economics shows that the law of demand and supply applies in this case.
If there was no ready market for used underwear then the supply levels would fall.
What it means therefore is that there are many women in Zimbabwe who can only afford second-hand underwear.
The reason being that they are not economically empowered to afford brand new ones.
For example, some rural women resort to the use of dried cow dung as sanitary wear because they cannot afford to buy a packet of sanitary pads selling for a US$1. Would those women be able to purchase brand new underwear?
The issue of hygiene and dignity are very important empowerment issues. Finance Minister Tendai Biti was right to point out that Zimbabweans should not stoop that low and allow women to wear used underwear.
Proweb director Mrs Sithabile Mangwengwende said despite it being a source of income for many cross-border women, selling used underwear was a risky venture.
She said it was unethical to hand down underwear because of the risk of passing on skin-related and other diseases that may be passed on through clothing.
“Besides hygiene, it lowers the receiving person’s self-esteem to be wearing someone else’s underwear,” said Mrs Mangwengwende
Women’s rights activist Koliwe Nyoni Majama said: “Only women can understand the importance of underwear – that good underwear is part of women’s basic health and sanitation, it should be made affordable and available locally to prevent people from using second-hand underwear.”
While the pros and cons of using second-hand underwear can be debated, it is important to look deeper into the issue.
The majority of the informal traders who are importing “bales” of used underwear are women, trying to fend for their families. Before the ban, informal traders were decrying the recently imposed duty on clothing and shoes and now the ban on the importation of used underwear will further reduce their business.
Whilst the increases in import tariffs is meant to promote local production, there are no measures in sight to raise the informal traders’ economic status.
Women have largely remained in peripheral and non-lucrative ventures. If the established local industries are operating at below 50 percent capacity, how will women be integrated into the mainstream economy?
ZWRCN director Mrs Naome Chimbetete lamented the women’s economic predicament and said there is need for more action beyond the ban.
“Handing down underwear is not a new practice in Zimbabwe but women have been doing it even with their extended families because of poverty.
“It is not a safe practice if the underwear is not sanitised but the whole point is, women cannot do without underwear and they need to fend for their families, so they are caught between a rock and a hard place,” she said.
For too long, women have been restricted to the roadside vending, informal cross-border trading, handcrafts and unpaid care work.
Is it not time for women to own cross-border transport companies, export fruits and vegetables and sign high- profile mining deals?
If such opportunities were available then why would women continue to sell second-hand underwear?

l ZWRCN is an information-based organisation committed to gender equity and equality.
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