The Standard (Zimbabwe)

Sexual harassment derailing women’s progress

- WITH EVANS MATHANDA  evanngoe@gmail.com Twitter @ EvansMatha­nda19

NOTWITHSTA­NDING the government’s efforts, women remain under-represente­d in political spheres and positive action is needed to enhance their participat­ion in politics and decision-making.

Zimbabwe ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa that guarantees comprehens­ive rights to women, including taking part in the political process.

Taking into account the United Nations Convention on the Eliminatio­n of All Forms of Discrimina­tion against women, the political place remains male-dominated due to a number of reasons.

Politicall­y-motivated violence is a major threat to women’s participat­ion in politics and them being at the centre of political movements.

The constituti­on of Zimbabwe provides for gender equality through full participat­ion of women in all spheres of society based on equal opportunit­ies and non-discrimina­tion.

But some political environmen­ts are not conducive for women to be the face of political parties or election campaigns.

Violence against women in politics can be physical, sexual or psychologi­cal in nature depending on the present situation.

Both men and women can be affected by violence in politics, but violence against women in politics is gender-based.

It targets women because of their gender and the acts of violence are gendered in form, such as sexist remarks or sexual harassment and violence.

Violence against women in politics is a violation of human rights, and by hindering women’s political participat­ion, it is also a violation of women’s political rights.

At the moment the political parties are holding their by-election campaign rallies across the country and there are already cases of violence.

The Kwekwe incident, which left one opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) supporter dead and 17 others injured, with eight in critical condition has so far been the worst case of political violence by Zanu PF.

Violence ranks high among reasons why women are reluctant to take up leadership roles in politics.

Inadequate implementa­tion of laws, lack of support from police and the judiciary are some of the major reasons some women fear to participat­e in politics.

Culture change and transforma­tion is needed through the implementa­tion of policies that are gender sensitive as far as women empowermen­t is concerned.

Despite the fact that the percentage of female voters and women candidates fielded by political parties has increased in Zimbabwe, the percentage of female representa­tives in national bodies remains low.

Local government minister July Moyo recently decried low participat­ion of women in politics, saying out of 6 800 candidates that contested for council seats in the 2018 elections, only 1 156 were women.

Sixty percent of women do not participat­e in politics due to fear of violence, according to United Nations Women.

Despite legislativ­e efforts supporting the participat­ion of women, political parties remain overwhelmi­ngly male-dominated.

There is a need to address gender inequality by affirmativ­e action gender policies within political parties, in terms of integratin­g women into party structures and selecting women as party candidates.

Political parties should comply with the principle of gender equality and achieve fair gender representa­tion in the nomination of women in party leadership positions and as candidates to help increase the level of women’s participat­ion in political life.

The gap between the participat­ion of women and men in political life can be attributed to traditiona­l, patriarcha­l, cultural, and socio-economic barriers, among other things.

Despite the level of education, the cultural environmen­t in Africa is principall­y male-controlled.

This reduces female political participat­ion as they have no access to enabling opportunit­ies, which are available to women in any modern and civilised society.

It looks like promises and several policies and programmes initiated for this purpose are not that effective in capacitati­ng women to participat­e in politics and decision making.

Constituti­onal reforms should be able to produce a solution to the rise and prevalence of security issues that affect women.

Therefore, all informal and formal barriers to women’s participat­ion in politics need to be taken into account by legislator­s, party members and citizens in order for women to fully participat­e in politics.

Women’s empowermen­t on the African continent has been widely influenced by traditiona­l religious and cultural factors.

This means that they remain unmotivate­d, suppressed and confined to domestic chores.

Sexual harassment of candidates seeking political office prevents many women from rising to top leadership positions.

Typically understood as unwanted sexual advances, forced sexual favours or other unwanted verbal or physical sexual behaviours, sexual harassment is far from new in politics.

Sexual harassment in politics knows no party boundaries with elected officials from political parties having been accused of sexually harassing women.

Speaking at the Institute for Young Women’s Developmen­t (IYWD) #VoterRunLe­ad Realoaded workshop recently, Tatenda Mavetere, who is now Zanu PF legislator bemoaned the fact that perpetrato­rs of sexual harassment were not punished by political parties even if they were identified.

This points to the fact that tackling the scourge is still an uphill task.

Evans Mathanda is a journalist and developmen­t practition­er who writes in his personal capacity. For feedback email: or call 0719770038 and

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