Violence against women on the rise

Martha Leboho Herald Correspondent
Violence against women is on the rise in areas where artisanal miners live and stakeholders are now joining hands to fight the scourge. This emerged during a stakeholders’ dialogue forum in Zvishavane early this week. The meeting was organised by Oxfam in Zimbabwe, Bethany Project and the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA).

Oxfam in Zimbabwe coordinator Ms Fadzai Traquino said in an interview after the meeting that the organisations will spearhead a global campaign on violence against women in Zvishavane. She said they were targeting the mining sector, where there was documented evidence of escalating violence against women.

“We have documented information on issues faced by women in the mining sector and saw a reason to address these issues,” she said.

Women, she said, were discriminated against in the mining sector as they were perceived to be too weak to handle the exertions of daily work in the industry.