Stop violence against women in politics

Andile Tshuma
Gender
Happy New Year.
The events of the past week have shown that if people do not possess the will to change, it is only the calendar that is changing. Nothing else.

Just a few weeks back, we were all painting the world orange with the 16 days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

Yet, last week the news of the assault of a senior female politician made headlines.

Acting MDC president Dr Thokozani Khuphe was slapped while leaving the party’s extra-ordinary congress in the capital last week.

While there is indeed a lot of drama and chaos following her and the party, there is no justification whatsoever for the assault of female politicians.

Do not raise your hand, nor your voice, just improve your argument and strategy.

Humans are not homogeneous and humans are by nature, political beings. So, it is very healthy to see things differently, that is what takes us forward. But to fail to tolerate the views and the presence of the other person and resorting to violence to make your own voice heard says a lot about you.

Violence against women which has seen a rise in reports of assault, intimidation and abuse of women politicians, is recognised around the world as a significant barrier to women’s political participation.

Globally, women comprise just 5,2 percent of Heads of Government, 6,6 percent of Heads of State, and 24 percent of parliamentarians.

Zimbabwe has over the years been celebrating strides made by women in politics who are said to have been breaking the political glass ceilings, however, inequality continues to rear its ugly head in the form of physical, sexual and emotional violence against our sisters in the trenches of politics.

Globally, politics remains overwhelmingly male dominated and as women try to defy gender norms that have traditionally kept them out of politics, they encounter hostility and violence as some still believe that politics should remain a “boys club”.

What happened to Dr Khuphe was unfortunate and uncalled for. Hopefully the perpetrators will be brought to book.
It gets worrying when one follows social media comments on the incidents where you find fellow women celebrating that she was attacked.

I think no matter how divergent views may be, everyone must be united by humanity first. Nobody deserves violence.
It is high time women learnt to rally behind their own.

Violence against women in politics can be sexual, physical or psychological in nature. Both men and women can be affected by violence in politics, but violence against women in politics is gender-based.

It targets women because of their gender and the acts of violence are often gendered in form such as sexist remarks or sexual harassment and violence.

Violence against women in politics is a violation of human rights and by hindering women’s political participation, it is also a violation of women’s political rights.

It would have been really great to start the year with a happy message sharing hope and inspiration, with prayers for a better year, after the roller-coaster ride that 2020 proved to be.

However, in the gender trenches, we are ending the year on a bad note and one wonders if the 16 Days of Activism message fell on deaf ears.

Looking back, Dr Khuphe has not had it easy in politics for a while. While it is good to constructively criticise her strategy and leadership style, and political decisions, it is something else to bash her and decamping her just because she is a woman.

Some have gone to the extent of saying she is not married, she cannot manage a household, how can she manage a nation. Well, for starters, marriage and playing housewife is just not for everyone, and people can choose whoever they want to be with and choose to remain single if they wish to. So many countries have been ruled by single presidents, some got married during their term in office while some left office still single, our neighbour, Ian Khama of Botswana for example. Leave Dr Khuphe alone.

Remember the drama at the late Morgan Tsvangirai’s funeral. Remember when some wanted to set alight a hut she had sought refuge in.

All this happens at a time when the Sustainable Development Goals have put a global spotlight on the commitment of all countries to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls (SDG Target 5.2).

Violence against politicians such as Dr Khuphe is a by-product of long-standing social systematic structures of patriarchy and such violence in all its forms is not only confined to politics but to the wider public space, where the power dynamic will transform the socio-cultural political themes and structure, and bring to the fore new power dynamic and cognitive structures of women in the society.

Women must rally behind their fellow sisters in politics as political office gives women a wide range of opportunities to impact decision- making processes and to positively contribute to the course of political development.

To face up to such challenges and violence in politics, solid accountability measures need to be put in place while there is need for commitment from all fellow politicians to acknowledge the role of women and their contribution in politics.

It is also important to build solid democratic institutions that are able to preserve people’s rights and in particular, women’s rights.

As Zimbabweans, we must all ensure that we hold all political parties accountable and call them out if they violate the rights of female politicians.

As the years has just begun, we have 364 days to make up and ensure that we all put an end to women’s rights violations.

Happy New Year.