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Dr Masimba Mavaza
More women than ever before are participating in politics worldwide. Higher numbers of women are being elected to public office and, in many countries, more women are attending political events, engaging with government bodies and registering as voters.
In the midst of women participation in politics, there are some male predators who are violating the poor women sexually and sometimes men use their political positions or societal positions to entice women into sexual activities.
These acts — whether directed at women as civil society leaders, voters, political party members, candidates, elected representatives or appointed officials — are designed to restrict the political participation of women as a group.
This violence reinforces traditional stereotypes and roles given to women, using domination and control to exclude women from politics.
There are broad conventional understandings of political and electoral violence and harassment, which are often conceived as attempts to suppress a particular perspective through force and bring with them well-documented democratic costs.
These forms of violence and harassment are largely obscured from public attention, either because they take place in private spaces or because, due to prevailing gender norms, they are accepted.
Such diabolic actions are made worse when the abuser pretends to be helping yet he is a “vampire” abusing children and women.
One of the people who preys on vulnerable women is a shameless former Rhodesian with both Canadian and British citizenship, who lays in wait for his prey at any gathering by Zimbabwean women in the UK.
As extensively explained before, many Zimbabweans in England in particular, seek asylum so that they can be granted leave to remain in the UK.
In order to satisfy the requirements for asylum, they need to prove that they are anti-Zimbabwean government and that they are in real danger because of their activities in the UK.
To that end, they will gather at the Zimbabwean High Commission and demonstrate against their country so that they will take photos as evidence of their activism.
Many have joined some groups which have been formed or sponsored by the ex-Rhodesian predator who appears as a human rights activist and sponsors these people who gather around embassies or any places where there is an international gathering.
They then demonise their country.
For each and every demonstration they participate in, the ex-Rhodesian cashes in thousands of pounds for his efforts and he simply buys lunch for the poor demonstrators who are doing it for their selfish reasons.
Now, this man does not end there, he then goes a step further and entices the women to bed and in less than six years, he has stayed with nine Zimbabwean girls as his concubines.
He promises them visas and that he will fight until they get them.
Our fellow Zimbabwean victims of the man are afraid to complain because he has told them that he is the only key to their visas.
He tells them that he is more understood by the Home Office because he is white.
The ex-Rhodesian hates Zimbabwe with a passion, yet when he demonstrates against Zimbabwe he claims he is doing it for the love of Zimbabwe.
As a result, in addition to facing similar challenges as their male colleagues in terms of fulfilling their asylum responsibilities, female immigrants often must also confront dangers, even in the physical spaces that should be accessible and safe for them, including political assemblies, party meetings, their offices, and their homes.
Manifestations of this violence can be classified in several common categories – psychological, physical, sexual and economic – that present distinctive features when applied to political life.
Psychological violence
Psychological violence refers to verbal and emotional abuse and acts intended to undermine a person’s sense of worth and/or personal safety and security.
This includes bullying behaviours such as belittling a person’s abilities and competency, name-calling.
The ex-Rhodesian man applies this method in a systematic way such that one believes that he is actually assisting while he is taking advantage of them.
Sexual violence includes sexual acts and attempts of sexual acts by coercion or force, as well as unwanted sexual comments or innuendo, and sexual harassment.
Examples include attempts to force women into sexual acts in exchange for a political outcome, such as securing a nomination, funding or an electoral result or getting a visa.
The ex-Rhodesian also uses economic violence to subdue vulnerable women. Because he receives grants from charitable organisations, he flashes this money in an attempt to entice these ladies who are not allowed to work because they have no documents.
What this ex-Rhodesian is doing in the Diaspora amounts to violence against women.
Violence against women in politics encompasses all forms of aggression, coercion intimidation or even veiled persuasion against women as political actors simply because they are women.
Women’s equal representation and participation in politics and public life is not simply desirable for a fully-functioning democratic systems; it is essential.
Women’s political leadership results in better outcomes for women and girls, as well as for society as a whole.
The argument for women’s political participation is irrefutable – democracy cannot be said to exist if half of the population is not wholly and equally engaged in decision-making.
Violence against women in politics must end and this ex-Rhodesian must be exposed.
He was the leader of the people who were demonstrating against Zimbabwe in Glasgow, Scotland, during the COP26 conference.
And he is now soliciting for signatures so that he can deliver a petition to the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to pile more sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Violence against women in Diaspora by this ex-Rhodesian impacts on the realisation of women’s political rights in an electoral context.
Tactics such as physical assault and intimidation affect both men and women, but have a different impact depending on the gender of those involved, and some gender-based forms of violence are specific to women.
Online Reporter