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Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
WOMEN bear the challenge of ‘sexploitation’ when it comes to access of land in both urban and rural areas it has been discovered.
Surveys carried out by Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) revealed that women are vulnerable to sexual abuse in a bid to access land for both residential, business and agricultural use.
In an investigative journalism training workshop on land corruption workshop held in Bulawayo on Tuesday, it was revealed by Mr Farai Mutodoro the coordinator of the land and corruption project and also the head of programs at TIZ said the rural and urban woman both had similar circumstances.
“There are variations here and there but the commonality of issues is that of manipulation of gender relations by the patriarchy. One case that we have on record is that of women in Chisumbanje were women are forced to trade sex for land or other sexual favors for a piece of land.
“In urban localities we are still getting date via our mobile clinics but we have gathered that as a result of demolitions and displacement of people, women bear the brand of corruption because of this,” he said.
He further said they have recorded cases of land corruption at Sdojiwe flats in Bulawayo where women were left out in getting land from a housing scheme that had offered land for them in Emganwini suburb.
The local authority is being accused of having gone in to the housing system and changed names of males in to females were women were supposed to benefit from land quotas. He said on paper it seemed like women own a substantial amount of land while in reality it was not the case.
The TIZ said data they gathered shows that widows are losing out on estates because relatives bribe officials at the deeds office and put a different name and we are investigating such cases of land corruption.
In a bid to arrest the corrupt tendencies, TIZ has been pushing a triangulated approach of also involving the media.
“We are involving journalist to write and expose gender dynamics on land corruption and also that young people demand transparency and accountability from land authorities. We are also engaging independent commissions (Gender, Anti corruption and Human Rights) on sensitizing them on land corruption. There is lack of information in some cases,” added Mr Mutondoro.
He said in the case of land being costly, the tendency to bribe was higher.
“When things are costly especially with land and compliancy then people opt to bribe. The higher the cost of land the more people subscribe to housing corporations where stand seem smilingly cheaper but that is not the case and people are duped of their money in some cases.
“It calls for tripartite discussions wilth local authorities, residents association so that a common agreement is reached so that people do not get in to the web of illegal housing cooperation’s,” he said.
He lamented the uses of sex by women to access land as some will not have the financial muscle to pay for the land such that they are offered land in return for sex. He further said in many cases when the sexual favours cannot continue, the women have double losses as they lose that same piece of land and their dignity after being ‘sexploited’.
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