Women’s issues have a long way to go in Zimbabwe, especially Gender Based Violence, but how much progress can be made when we continue to receive such meagre budget allocations? The article below explores the poor allocation to the Women’s revolving fund, and resultant impact of GBV on the 2012 budget as a whole. Have a read:

Finance Minister Tendai Biti announced the $4 Billion 2012 National Budget on Thursday, but made a serious omission when he mentioned foreign travel as unnecessarily gobbling public resources at the expense of other pressing national needs. Gender based violence is as much a ‘cancer in the management of public resources’ as multiple foreign trips are.

Whilst the 2012 budget makes mention of women-specific issues which treasury intends to address, the cost of GBV weighs heavily on the health and home affairs expenditures. Despite women’s contributions to their families, communities and country’s economy, they reap very little in terms of revenue. Worst still, they are subjected to all forms of GBV.

The Multiple Indicator Monitoring Survey of 2009 indicated that in Mashonaland Central Province some women were beaten up for simple mistakes like burning a pot of sadza, failing to look after children, refusing to have sex, going out without telling their husbands and arguing with husbands.
Police attended to 1940 cases in 2008, increasing to 3193 in 2009, then skyrocketing to 7628 in 2010. Between January and March this year, 2 536 cases have already been reported to police – a high number compared to last year during the same period. The majority of cases brought to the attention of police are those of physical violence, but sadly most of the cases are withdrawn before going to court or in court.

The courts have also been laden with GBV cases. Some women have lost their lives, leaving behind children as young as two months old. Some cases have gone unreported, while others have been swept under the carpet, with the victims suffering in silence.

Finance Minister Biti’s statement overlooked the need to put in place measures to stop the loss of revenue caused by GBV. If domestic violence is not curbed, then treasury will have to fork out more and more resources towards the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act. This will mean ensuring that police posts are adequately staffed and resourced in order to attend to the numerous GBV reports.

Perpetrators of GBV should consider the amount of tax payer’s money that is lost through the court processes, and how much money is spent to convene a full court session, paperwork, prosecutor and judge to preside over the case.

The 2012 budget allocation towards health care and maternal health care will have to cover the many cases of forced pregnancies, rape victims and physical and mental abuse. Meanwhile, families are losing money in medical bills, litigation and counselling. Other economic losses to the nation include the loss of productive time as victims nurse injuries.

Reducing the costs of GBV on the national fiscus could unlock resources for other gender equality and equity issue. For example, the 2012 budget has only allocated a paltry $3 Million to the Women’s Revolving Fund under the Ministry of Women Affairs Gender and Community Development- a fund that purports to empower women economically. Yet women constitute 52 % of the population estimated to be at 13 Million. If that fund was to be shared equally among Zimbabwe’s women, then each woman would get less than $50.

If the treasury wishes to plug all the leaks in the nation’s economy, it has to audit the cost of GBV and seek corrective measures. – ZWRCN

Source

GALZ and Katswe Sisterhood will be hosting a photo exhibition at the Alliance Francaise on the 1st to the 2nd of December. Tinzwei is a photo voice initiative carried out by a diverse group of Harare women aged 19 to 43 sharing the experiences of their struggles and successes.

Hosted by Def Zee (Definitely Zimbabwean) at the US Embassy’s Public affairs section, was a discussion entitled The Small House Saga. The team from Def Zee showed 2 video clips, one of an interview with a young woman who is currently a small house (having a committed relationship with a married man), and a prostitute from the Avenues area of Harare.

Small houses, are a growing phenomenon and are very much an ‘officially’ unofficial part of societal and family structures. It is not to say that this is a new practice. Men have been having long-term extra-marital affairs, even having families, since time immemorial. The majority of men at the event thought that having a small house was okay. The small house interviewed explained that she was faithful to her man and that she trusted that he was faithful too and that they therefore do not use condoms. The truth of the matter is that many people are not faithful, and since couples tend not to protect themselves during sex when in these types of relationships than in casual sexual encounters, small houses may be loopholes that continue to spread HIV.

The role of prostitution in the spread of HIV/AIDS was also discussed. The prostitute interviewed revealed that over 75% of the men who paid for sex with her did not want to use a condom, and that the vast majority of her clients were indeed married men. Nearly half the audience was in favour of legalizing prostitution in order that the country can benefit from the tax revenue and that the practice may be monitored and regulated for the safety of all involved. The reasons women turned to this ‘profession’ were also explored, with poverty being identified as the chief reason. Clearly, the issues of small houses and prostitution are multi-faceted and require careful consideration, but it is encouraging to see youth talking about such issues in the hope of curbing the spread of HIV. Let me leave you with a question that was asked at yesterday’s discussion: In light of the prevalence of small houses and prostitution, do you think that an HIV/AIDS-free generation is achievable in Zimbabwe?

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In an article titled Thoughts on Gender based violence and international development Pamela Scully writes:

We need a far more expansive understanding of gender-based violence as a category of analysis. We need to move beyond seeing women as victims and men as rapists. A more nuanced definition would see the ways that men are forced into particular roles either as rapists or as victims themselves of sexual violence.

In addition, we have to query the solutions that the international development community is currently using to try to end GBV. I worry that we focus so much on the state. The models of intervention, of what makes a good society, emerge from places where the state largely works. Yet the state is in basic collapse in the kinds of conflict and post conflict settings that are receiving much attention for the problem of sexual violence. We need to look to local institutions such as women’s societies, religious communities, consumer cooperatives, and traditional councils far more than is currently done as staging places for dialogues about ending sexual violence.

Pamela Scully is a professor of women’s studies and African studies at Emory who teaches courses on feminist theory, sexuality and genocide, and post conflict societies in Africa. Scully is the author of books on race, sexuality, and colonial cultures. You can read the full article here

From Kirby.

[Chiedza, Chiedza
Chiedza, Chiedza]
Let peace be here
Let love be here
Love of God
Love of one another
And love of life itself
Let us remember that so many poles
Built a hut, built a school
Let’s work together
To make our home successful.