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Gibson Mhaka
WHEN the government passed into law the Domestic Violence Act in 2007 it was hailed as a great milestone to allow and provide maximum protection and relief to victims and survivors of familial violence in all forms of relationships.
The law, which aims to promote domestic harmony in relationships, criminalises physical, emotional, verbal, economic and psychological abuse.
Other forms of harassment such as sexual abuse including rape, indecent assault and exposure, stalking, forced virginity testing and wife-inheritance are considered violence under the Act and perpetrators are prosecuted and liable to imprisonment of up to five years.
The aim of the law is basically to provide relief and ensure protection for survivors of domestic violence, as well as long-term measures for the prevention of domestic violence but this has not stopped the problem.
While many women, gender and children’s rights activists celebrated the passing of the landmark Act to deal with issues of gender-based violence, seven years down the line, the law, however, seems not to have served its purpose by failing to change attitudes of the perpetrators and subsequently end all forms of violence against women and girls.
Women’s organisations are of the opinion that there is a slippery slope of justice for victims of domestic violence as the penalties under this law are not deterrent enough especially when one considers that cattle rustling carries a heavier sentence than wife-bashing.
It should be remembered that, in some cases, victims especially women choose to withdraw cases of violence against their spouses for fear of retribution and backlash from relatives of the perpetrator.
Recent studies by gender activists have estimated that one in every three women is exposed to various forms of gender-based violence, where some have been maimed and others died at the hands of their spouses in the home, community and nation at large despite the existence of the law to support prosecution of such cases.
In many cases, women experiencing violence become separated from their families and communities and have limited support to enable them to leave the violent situations and seek justice.
This is an indication that a lot has to be done by the government to overcome the escalating cases of gender-based violence.
Some critics have blamed the police and the courts for letting down the victims by merely paying lip service to the cause by not arresting the perpetrators and by failing to pass stiffer penalties as a deterrent to the would-be offenders.
“We have seen an increase in the cases of domestic violence but I blame the police and the law for not doing much to protect women. You find that there are domestic violence cases that seem serious but the perpetrators are allowed to walk scot free after being given non-custodial sentences.
“We have laws designed to protect the society against family violence and abuse, rape, sexual assault and other gender-based violence but these laws are meaningless without effective, fearless and sustained implementation by the police, prosecutors and courts against any and every perpetrator.
“For example I reported a case of physical abuse at Mzilikazi Police Station after my husband who had a history of abusing me severely assaulted me with fists before he struck me with a brick but the police officer (name supplied) who is handling the case is adopting a lackadaisical approach, a move which led me to suspect that he was bribed by my husband. This is so because even the day we went to court the matter was never taken to set down and the police officer in question said he was going to notify me the date my husband would appear in court. From that day it is the same story from the police officer that he will tell me the date,” said Dorcas Shumba who had since developed some difficulties in walking as a result of the severe assault.
Shumba’s pain is shared by many abused women across the country in their search for justice.
It is clear that domestic violence is common in disputes involving divorce and child custody. Given the prevalence and challenges of these cases, counselling programmes should be prepared to deal effectively with them.
According to studies, there are three general approaches to this preparation namely educating and training of family mediators or counsellors, screening of all divorce and post-divorce cases to determine which cases are appropriate for mediation and lastly employing specialised techniques and procedures before, during and after the counselling sessions.
Apart from policies and procedures to protect the clients from risks from the violent partner, mediation programmes can incorporate a variety of techniques to employ during the mediation process.
A senior Bulawayo magistrate, who preferred anonymity citing professional reasons, said the magnitude of gender-based violence was both frightening and shocking and the statistics were proof enough as to why the courts should impose stiffer penalties on offenders.
He said although magistrates knew about the existence of the law against domestic violence that was passed in 2007, they seemed not to be well versed with statutes of the Domestic Violence Act.
He blamed the escalating cases of gender-based violence on limited knowledge of the law by parties involved.
“Our research has revealed that key players in the justice delivery system like magistrates, lawyers and police do not have proper understanding of the Domestic Violence Act Chapter 5:16 while others do not care and take cases of gender-based violence to be simply women issues. As key players to protect victims of gender-based violence, they need to do something on fully implementing this Act. This will encourage the victims to report these cases with magistrates ensuring that perpetrators are properly prosecuted in courts of law,” said the magistrate.
There is no doubt that violence against women is not only embedded in the homes but has become entrenched in structures and systems both at community and national levels.
Gender activists should call for an end to all forms of domestic violence as well as coordinating programmes to educate Zimbabweans to end the cycle of violence against women.
Gender activists and government should, as matter of urgency, start establishing safe houses across the country like the one which was recently unveiled in Harare to temporarily accommodate victims of domestic violence while their cases are being handled by the police or courts.
The centre, which was officially opened by Musasa Project, aims at empowering women who would have been subjected to gender-based violence. The facility, which offers psychological, legal, medical, reproductive rights services, training and mentorship support, is the first call centre for abused women in the country and is composed of counselling rooms, waiting space, training room and other basic facilities.
“We are glad to have launched this massive project which is going to assist girls of all age groups and women who would have suffered abuse, violence and rape. The project would like to see women survivors in need of immediate physical and mental protection provided with a safe home and with information to build their confidence and skills so as to increase their capacity to regain control of their lives free from violence.
“This one-stop care centre is unique in the sense that all that a woman requires after being tortured or abused can be found in one place. There would be counsellors waiting to give psychological support for confidentiality purposes”, said Musasa Project director Netty Musanhu.
However, at times blame on the escalating cases of domestic violence should not be extended to the government because domestic violence is not always obvious or easily recognised. This is so because there is a strong tendency by the victims to keep it a secret, to deny and minimise what had happened or simply accept the abusive behaviour as a normal way of functioning in the marital relationship.
derick.khumalo