Women still suffer in silence
WATCHING a heavily built Budiriro shebeen owner Kumbirai Musariri beat up defenceless Robinah Makumbire for a measly US$6 debt sends shivers down the spine.
The graphic brute force captured in a video which went viral not only led to questions on the use of social media but on what society had become as the country faces its worst economic crisis since dollarisation in 2009.
As Makumbire begged for mercy, some bystanders stood in awe as Musarira mercilessly attacked his debtor, performing stunts one would associate with professional wrestling.
A dreadlocked man clad in red pants and white t-shirt was shown in the video trying to restrain Musarira in vain as the camera continued to roll.
The horrific video immediately courted public anger after Mbare magistrate Gladys Moyo fined Musarira US$50 for battering the married Harare woman.
What irked the public was that Makumbire did not get compensation for the assault. Musariri in his mitigation said anger had forced him to attack Makumbire in the way he did. Sadly for her, she endured way much more than what the state will be paid by way of a fine.
However, Moyo, in passing her sentence, took into account that Musariri was a first offender and did not waste the court’s time by pleading guilty to the offence.
The medical affidavit produced by the state showed that Musarira had sustained minor injuries after two blows which landed on her failed to cause permanent injury.
“However, the accused must be fined so that he would resort to resolving disputes amicably and not to resolve using violence,” Moyo said passing her sentence.
For one moment, Zimbabwe’s highly polarised society rallied around the issue of gender-based violence with questions asked on whether or not the court’s sentence was lenient.
Memories of the brutal attack linger in some people’s minds, and others on social media platforms even offered financial help to assist the woman appeal against the sentence.
While ethical considerations have also been asked about the motive of the photographer who filmed Musariri’s assault, her case typifies the suffering endured by countless women who suffer in silence as the world commemorates 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
The campaign runs from November 25 to December 10 each year.
The theme for this year is Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence Against Women and Girls.
GBV refers to violence that targets individuals or groups on the basis of their gender.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) defines it as violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately.
This includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, the threat of such acts, coercion and other deprivations of liberty.
According to Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) statistics, cases of domestic violence increased by a whopping 34% in 2015 compared to 15 300 cases registered in the previous year. Shockingly, men have been the dominant culprits.
Official figures also show that in 2014, at least 12 410 suspects were arrested while 15 213 arrests were made last year. Police say some victims are helping perpetuate the violence as they withdraw cases allowing perpetrators to go scot-free.
While Zimbabwe is commended for responding to genderbased violence through the Domestic Violence Act, cases of domestic violence mainly targeting women have been on the rise.
Gender-based violence remains a challenge, with official statistics showing that one in every four women experiences sexual vio
lence and in nine out of 10 of the cases, the perpetrator is the woman’s current or former husband, partner or boyfriend. Former women’s affairs deputy minister Jessie Majome said while the country has enough laws to fight domestic violence, enforcement has not been very effective. “The present sporadic and piecemeal, disconnected approaches don’t have much impact. A systematic, comprehensive and funded approach will do. It’s intolerable that government would be allowed, without any accountability or outcry, to let its excellent National Gender-Based Violence Strategy (NGBVS) 2012-2015 lapse without any action on it when women and girls are being killed, raped and maimed,” Majome said. Zimbabwe Peace Project national director Jestina Mukoko said while there have been efforts to address violence against women and girls in the private sphere, more needs to be done in the public sphere. “My biggest concern is violence against women and girls in the public sphere which also includes political spaces. I don’t think a lot is being done in this regard as political issues are considered too risky by most,” Mukoko said. “I am thinking of how a young girl was abducted and detained for several hours in Norton simply because her mother had claimed her constitutional right to freedom of association. “Political parties need to take steps to sanction their members if they are involved in activities that endanger the lives of citizens but in this instance in particular where the lives of women and girls is affected. What is also sad is that while women and girls might not be direct victims of political violence they are indirect victims who eventually have to become nurse to their fathers, husbands, brothers etc. Unless violence against women is dealt with on the political front we will continue to decry the minimal participation of women in decision-making positions.”
According to a recent study by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), gender-based violence negatively affects socio-economic development of the country.
The aggregate cost of GBV in Zimbabwe in 2009, according to Sida, was estimated at US$2 billion.
This included cost to survivors for medical fees, transport, and fees for legal and other support services provided by the government and non-governmental organisations, as well as costs related to the high absentee rates of girls and women in education, in the labour market and in productive economic activities as result of gender-based violence.
Padare/Enkundleni Men’s Forum on Gender programme officer Walter Vengesai said men can seek professional counselling to reduce GBV, adding that many abusers wrongly assume it can become second nature to someone and that for most men who are abusers it is treated as an endorsement of patriarchy.
“I think generally there is an increased awareness on gender-based violence (GBV), a lot of work has been done in that area. However, our observation is that knowledge is not quickly translating into changed behaviour especially among married men,” Vengesai.
“GBV is spanning across all age groups and men are the ones mostly perpetrating this violence. Men are not looking at alternative forms of conflict resolution. They know it’s wrong but after they would have been violent they blame it on evil spirts or just uncontrolled anger.”
He said what was worrying of late was the increase in violent threats involving guns and other dangerous weapons.
Vengesai also called on the government to invest more in programmes to assist GBV victims as well as perpetrators.