Silent victims of gender based
violence
Mateline Tsama
Victims are accused of having cased their own misfortune,
the very core of their humanity violated and Zimbabwe’s highly conservative
family system means majority of cases are literally swept under the carpet.
The reason, if one reports it, the result will be a
breakdown of the family unit so vital to the very fabric of our society.
Despite the outrage at violence against women that has been
recorded in Zimbabwe over the years, thousands of women continue to be silent victims
of one kind or another of abuse but the biggest of them is rape, from marital
to the abuse of children as young as two weeks in the vain hope of curing the
dread HIV/AIDS scourge.
After years of decline suddenly official figures show a
spike in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infections a worrying sign to authorities.
Women bear the brunt of abuse while vulnerable girls are
left with physical and emotional wounds, invisible to the eye; they suffer in
silence. For a long time now, Natasha Moyo, 31 and a mother of three has been
subjected to unspeakable trauma in her own matrimonial home.
Her life and that of her children is under threat from her
violent husband who arrives home late from a beer jaunt.
On a daily basis Moyo prepares herself to walks three kilometres
to the safety of her brother’s house if she fails to prepare the day’s evening
meal in the way her husband desires. Failure means a heavy bashing.
This is despite the
fact that the husband does not buy food in the house.
“He always beats me up when he comes home to an uncooked
meal. What worries me is that if he finds boiled vegetables, he hits me and demands
meat that he rarely buys,” Moyo says with a suggestion that she is to blame.
The couple’s landlord who has witnessed Moyo’s fate says her
efforts to help Moyo have been futile owing to her relatives’ inconsistence that
they cannot report their son-in-law to the police.
Moyo cites that her husband is the breadwinner and that she
currently does not have money to enable her provide for the welfare of her children
after living the father to the children.
With the 16 days of Activism against gender- based violence
now underway, Moyo’s case is not an isolated as many women have chosen to protect
their husbands from going behind prison bars despite enduring various forms of
domestic violence.
The campaign seeks to mobilise individuals and groups across
the globe to call for an end to all forms of violence against women and to emphasize
that violence against women is violation of human rights. In marking the 16
days of Activism Against gender-based violence, critics have claimed the idea
of blaming the victim for their misfortune is so prevalent something needs to
be done.
HarareWest legislator and MDC-T shadow minister of Justice
Jessie Majome said government needs to act and stop working on blueprints.
“Government and stakeholders need to move from boardrooms and
start implementing the National Strategy against Gender Based Violence launched
at last year's 16 days. Its four (4) key result areas are service provision to
survivors, protection, research and monitoring and evaluation, accompanied by
vigorous advocacy and sensitisation on it that also aims at ending impunity for
perpetrators,” Majome said.
Tinopona Mabvunde, 28 a resident of Harare says it has
become common for crimes against humanity to be blamed on the victims pointing
that women are often times presented as the cause of their own doing.
“In many rape cases, rape survivors are blamed ruthless for
the violence perpetrated against them, its time people stop justifying violence
by blaming women, we demand justice,” Mabvunde said
Nyari Mashayamombe a gild child activist has advocated that
no excuses can be used to justify violence against women and children.
“Nobody deserves to be abused and there is no justification
for abuse, it is a crime that should meet the heavy hand of law and justice.”
According to UN women Africa, violence against women has
reached a crisis point that demands action from everyone.
With world leaders showing determination and mount response
that is proportionate to the violence threatening the lives of women and girls.
“Leaders have a responsibility to take action to end all forms
of violence against women and girls.
“With determined leadership for prevention, protection,
prosecution and provision of services for survivors, we can end this global pandemic.
It is up to all of us. Together we can end violence against women and girls.” -
UN women Africa said in a statement.
While people quarrel in the media and in other forums the
silent victims of violence continue to wallow in their misery. The 16 day of
activism against gender based violence will come and go, there were there last
year and after another you another round of noise will come.
Unless authorities begin to act of their promises and meting
deterrent sentences to perpetrators then we are unlikely to see any shift in
behaviour. Meanwhile Moyo and others like her will continue to suffer in muted
criers for help.
