I think we are really regressing as a nation sometimes, what’s with men lobbying for women to be indoors by six o’clock? We cannot go back to the medieval era when women like children were meant to be seen only and not heard. Giving women a curfew is meant to alleviate prostitution they say. Bakers Inn will cease to bake bread the day the bread does not have consumers. The same way prostitution will end when men stop consuming the female product. If this is passed as a law it is going to be disastrous for women like me whose industry strives at night. I am a musician and performer who will be jobless. What other option of work will I have for a job? If the majority of women whom I know work long hours in offices have to be home by six and have no husbands or any other help to make ends meet, how will they survive? Can you imagine the bulk of women jobless wanting to put food on the table for their children and other persons under their care? Women often have more people to take care of than men do, imagine the pressure that this woman will have? If she is not going to be a commercial sex worker she is going to prostitute to her husband, boyfriend, lover or any other man in her life in the comfort of her house and not on the street corner. Prostitution by my definition is having sex in exchange for money or up keep. Putting a curfew on women will not stop prostitution. Instead it will make it rise. Prostitution is not going to be alleviated by this but is going to come to our homes as our mothers, sisters and all the female relations will sleep with men in their lives just to make him happy in hope he will leave a dollar for bread. Need I remind men out there that prostitution knows no time of the day? There are other ways prostitution can be alleviated. I don’t see how imposing a curfew on women will help.

Some years back HIV positive people were voiceless as HIV negative people represented them and so their deepest concerns were never really uttered. But Zimbabwe’s 24-year-old Anna Sango has put an end to this as she represented Zimbabwe women both living with HIV and not, at the first ever International AIDS Conference held in the United States. In her line of work back home Anna Sango is a peer educator in Bulawayo. She is a well-known vocal activist who founded her own community-based support group for women affected by HIV. She advocated for the inclusion of all women in matters of policy formulation in matters that affect them.

It is also at this conference that sex workers demanded their fuller inclusion. Sango in her presentation said:

“Frankly we are getting tired of repeating ourselves… why do so many of the same old problems exist? 2012′s pandemic has a woman’s shape… we need to look with clear eyes to see old problems, why are we working on the same old problems every 2 years? What is missing? We are missing! I’m a young woman, transitioning into full adulthood, full womanhood, I would like to do that in a safe space, I ask you, how are you holding yourself accountable?  An AIDS free generation looks like a generation which takes global responsibility for the safety and quality of life of all of its women and girls by discussing, implementing, and following through on plans for addressing racism and women’s equality. Policy decisions that affect women must include them in the decision-making process…This means all women, including women who use drugs and women sex workers.”

Whose right is it to kill?

Many countries in the world have abolished the death penalty but in Zimbabwe it is still in existence. Zimbabwe is crafting a new constitution and COPAC has submitted a Second Draft Constitution and if it passes will undergo a referendum. In this draft the death penalty is abolished – but only for women. This has led to many human rights organisation calling for an absolute abolition of the death penalty. The Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO) an organisation committed to advocating for justice in prisons of Zimbabwe is amongst these organisations.

In Zimbabwe there are 71 people on the death row and three of them are women with the last execution being carried out in 2005. Elisha Chidombwe of ZACRO indicated that on each of their visits to Harare Central Prison they visit a guy who has served 15 years waiting for a resolution. Sadly he mentioned that many people facing the death penalty die before their penalty day because of isolation and the fear of death itself.

ZACRA believes that the death penalty is revenge and not justice. The organisation opts for the provision of correctional activities in prisons for those who would have committed offenses that carry the death penalty. The organisation is currently circulating a petition to present to Parliament to abolish the death penalty. They are hoping to get 2 million signatures.

If you want to put an end to the death penalty in Zimbabwe, contact ZACRO and make your signature count as your voice!

So much about what appears to be glib public statements on zero tolerance to political violence: “An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a since interest in prolonging lives of poultry.” George Eliot, 1866

Work in and for Zimbabwe. Help grow our nation. Check out the vacancies below. If you’d like to receive this sort of information, as well as civic and human rights updates, by email each week drop us a note saying “subscribe” to info [at] kubatana [dot] net

Please note that the job vacancies we carry are related to the NGO and civil society sectors only.

Senior Researcher: Gender Links
Deadline: 17h00 31 July 2012

Contract: 4 months

Gender Links, a Southern African NGO based in Johannesburg specialising in gender, media, women’s rights and governance, seeks the services of an experienced individual to serve as a senior researcher for a period of four months. The main task of the incumbent, who will be based at the Harare Office, will be to provide research and administrative support to the Gender Justice Unit that is carrying out pioneering research on gender violence indicators across the SADC region.

Key performance areas
-Partner relationship management
-Data collection, management, cleaning and analysis
-Administration, monitoring and evaluation
-Production of high quality knowledge and IEC materials
-Writing research reports
-Work with relevant staff teams in dissemination and advocacy strategies for research outputs

Skills
-Masters degree in social science, public health or related field
-Minimum 5 years relevant experience in a research environment
-Proficiency in MS Office, SPSS and STATA
-Problem-solving skills
-Excellent written and verbal skills
-Ability to work independently and collaboratively
-Knowledge of the SADC region will be an advantage

General conditions
GL is an equal opportunity employer. A competitive remuneration package will be offered commensurate with the skills and qualifications. Applications must be submitted as soon as possible and latest by 17h00 on Tuesday, 31 July 2012.

A letter of motivation, CVs, references and two samples of written work should be sent to: hr [at] genderlinks [dot] org [dot] za or fax 27 (0) 11- 622 4732. For further enquiries call Vivien Bakainaga on 27 (0) 11 622 2877. Late applications will not be considered. Only short listed and successful candidates will be contacted. GL reserves the right to not appoint anyone.

An interview with Farai Maguwu, the director of the Center for Research and Development (CRD).

Could you explain who currently controls the diamond industry in Zimbabwe? How is this source of wealth likely to factor into the upcoming national elections?

The official view is that all mining is done through joint-venture partnerships between the Zimbabwean government and private enterprises. However, in practice there are several private companies involved in mining activities in the Marange diamond field. For instance, the deputy mines minister recently revealed that Anjin Investments, which is by far the biggest diamond mining company in Marange, is controlled 50 percent by the Chinese, 40 percent by the Zimbabwe National Army through its subsidiary company Zimbabwe Defense Industries (ZDI), and 10 percent by another company linked to the army. This militarization of the extractive sector in Zimbabwe, where the generals have become company directors and shareholders on behalf of the government, is extremely worrying.

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