Survivor narrates horror GBV ordeal
FOR Ms Rose Mwenyeali (39) from Ward 24 in Shamva District, marriage was a nightmare with an alcoholic husband who beat her frequently and finally emptying a pan of hot cooking oil over her.
Like any battered woman, Ms Mwenyeali was isolated and suffered persistent intimidation from her husband.
The day she was burned with hot oil, was when she decided that enough was enough and finally sought help.
Recounting the horrors of that day, Mwenyeali said she was cooking when her husband returned home drunk.
“Our three children, two girls and one boy, were sent back home from school due to non-payment of school fees.
“I asked why he was buying beer when we could not afford to pay school fees.”
He said he was the one to decide what he wanted to spend his money on, before picking up a pan with hot cooking oil from a gas stove and emptying it on her, leaving her badly scalded.
“I lived in fear of my husband and that my daughter would drop out of school. I then started attending the SASA programmes (Start, Awareness, Support and Action).
“I confided in one of the community childcare workers and she took me to Msasa Project and I obtained a protection order against my husband,” she said.
Ms Mwenyeali was speaking at a workshop hosted by the Forum for African Women Educationalists Zimbabwe Chapter, as they closed the support phase of their SASA programme. SASA is a community mobilisation approach to prevent violence against women. Ms Mwenyeali’s story is one of the many cases of gender-based violence, child marriages and a high rate of school dropouts before the SASA programme.
Shamva has a lot of mining, especially gold panning, and is home to religious sects that at times engage in harmful practices like child marriages.
In communities where violence against women is rife, people usually turn a deaf ear and develop a culture of silence.
Mrs Tendai Chikeya, a landlord, confessed saying she used to close her door to tenants calling for help during domestic violence.
“When the SASA programme started, I realised that I was part of the problem by turning a deaf ear. I am now known as a mother advisor. This programme has also increased the community level in accepting children with disabilities,” she said.
Fawezi project officer Mrs Rujeko Chibaya said they were trying to end violence against women and young girls using SASA and for school age children the Tuseme clubs.
“We are working in communities and schools, implementing the support phase. Today we are celebrating the gains and successes we made during the support phase of the SASA model,” she said.
“We reached out to 10 349 people during the SASA session and 5 217 are females and 5 213 are males. We have witnessed an increase in male engagement in the subject of violence against women. In schools using the Tuseme model, we reached out to 4 562 learners. We are involving boys on issues affecting girls in accessing education so that both sexes are equally empowered.”
Mrs Chibaya said they were now entering the action phase and looking at laws that protect women and girls, informing policy and gender-responsive service delivery.
She said after raising demand for services in communities during the support phase, they were now working towards institutional strengthening to ensure people get the services they need.
Traditional leaders are leading the fight against harmful practices such as child marriages, she said, and chiefs have come up with regulations that abolish child marriages.
“We are also engaging the apostolic sects and we are witnessing an increase in knowledge and reporting of child marriages and sexual abuse. Shamva does not have a safe shelter and we were allocated land by the local authority and soon we will start building,” said Mrs Chibaya.
Wadzanai High School teacher, Mrs Evelyne Nyatsine, who is also a teacher mentor for the Tuseme Club, said before 2017 when the programme started, more than 20 girls would drop out of school due to teenage pregnancies.
The programme is now run in five schools: Wadzanai High School, Wadzanai Primary School, Madziwa Secondary School, Madziwa Primary and Ming Chang Primary.
“Most of the schools in Shamva are in mining areas and prostitution is rife in such areas. Some of the children are left to fend for themselves as the parents chase after gold,” she said.
“It used to be common for girls to fall pregnant during Form 2 and 3, but now we are witnessing a dynamic shift as girls realise their self-worth. The girls now realise that there is more to life than falling pregnant.
““We used to have 20 girls dropping out every year before but now not more than five girls drop out of school. Some of the girls would stop coming to school due to menstrual health issues but we now have sanitary pads and these we give them.”
Mrs Nyatsine said the programme was helping keep girls in school. The Tuseme Club has seen the construction of girls’ bathrooms for use during their menstrual period.
Leonard Cheshire also assisted with the construction of a disability-friendly toilet while visually impaired children were assisted in obtaining spectacles.