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Tendai Rupapa in Mavhuradonha

FIRST Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa yesterday took her educative and corrective male engagement initiative to combat, among other issues, gender-based violence (GBV) to her home province of Mashonaland Central amid worrying statistics that it tops in child marriages and is ranked fifth in terms of domestic violence.

This comes at a time when the mother of the nation is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring communities and families live in harmony while children pursue their education and wait for the right time to get married.

According to a GBV analysis provided by Mrs Judith Hove from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, child marriages were at 56 percent in 2014 with Mashonaland central leading the country’s 10 provinces.

In 2019, the survey showed that violence declined to 51 percent and Mashonaland Central Province now comes fifth.

However, on child marriages the province is topping all the provinces at 50 percent as children are married off below the age of 18.

 

“The issue of domestic violence was looked into globally by countries in the United Nations (UN) and we are part of it as Zimbabwe. We have international instruments, the CEDAW Convention on all forms of discrimination against women.

“We have the Beijing platform, it reinforced that violence against women and girls must end. We then domesticated the international and regional protocols and came up with our constitution which we wrote as Zimbabweans. Our mother, the First Lady, wants to ensure violence is ended between men and women. Now if you keep on bashing your wife and vice versa where are we going? Amai has come to remind men against violence. According to statistics, men are the main perpetrators,” she said.

Mrs Hove said Zimbabwe followed the patriarchal system in days gone by which stipulated that a woman does not speak but lives in the kitchen and bears children.“We know that men are the heads of households even the Bible says so but Amai is talking of equal opportunities and empowerment in terms of education and access to resources. Child marriages were at 56 percent in 2014 with Mashonaland central leading the 10 provinces.

“In 2019, the survey showed that violence declined to 51 percent and Mashonaland Central comes fifth. In child marriages Mashonaland central is topping all the provinces at 50 percent as children are married off below the age of 18. In this province, violence is tilted towards men as perpetrators and women as victims. Teen pregnancies and child marriages are mostly in mine compounds where children are falling pregnant at a young age. We want to thank Amai for this programme which seeks to end GBV among other social ills” she said.

The views were corroborated by the Police Victim Friendly Unit which also gave gloomy statistics.

“In Mashonaland central we are seeing through our statistics that sex crimes are increasing, with children as victims. In sexual gender-based violence cases we encounter as police we have two serious ones like rape of children and women. Most victims are children below the age of 16 and people bedding young children.

“The child may consent to sexual intercourse but the law protects the minor and says the consent is not out of knowledge as she will be young. Children below 4 years are also being raped,” the police said.

The First Lady’s intervention is timely as it seeks to address challenges which the province and the Mukumbura community nestled 36 kilometres before the border with Mozambique is grappling with.

This shows how passion for the welfare of the citizenry has taken the First Lady to all corners of the country to end domestic violence and child marriages which are ripping families apart.

Mrs Failess Matemba said the First Lady is concerned by GBV cases, hence her decision to come up with the National Gender based violence 575 toll free line in her office.

“Perturbed by the increase in GBV cases she saw it fit to come up with a call centre in her office. At times she answers it personally. Women are mostly victims and Amai is working with her working partners to end the challenge,” she said.

UNAIDS country director Mrs Sophia Mukasa Monico praised the First Lady’s campaign, which she said was reaching a critical mass of people.

“The First Lady’s campaign is reaching a critical mass of people with meaningful dialogues.

“Just hearing the things that men and women were saying and exchanging ideas on how best to go about it with the First Lady is the most meaningful dialogue you can have when it comes to HIV, Sexual gender-based violence and sexual reproductive health. In order to make a difference we need to do exactly what the First Lady is doing going out and meeting people where they are,” she said.

Mrs Mukasa Monico said the depth of the dialogue was worth acting upon if the country was to end HIV by 2030 and eliminate gender based violence as well as improve access to sexual reproductive health.

“More men are dying of HIV, more men are not accessing treatment, not because there is no treatment but just because of lack of information or maybe just mere masculinities and the only way to discuss masculinity is to have dialogue like the dialogue Amai had with the people in the community we met today,” she said.

In her remarks, the mother of the nation who humbly approached men and engaged them in a respectful manner said it was essential to ensure a safe and peaceful environment for girls and women in the homes, communities and the nation.

“Vana baba nemadzimambo edu aripano ndinokuremekedzai. Nditenderei kumira pamberi penyu ndichitaura nemi. I stand before you as a woman and a mother because of the issue of poor relations in the home. According to your own admission, this is mostly caused by men. I am happy to be here in Mukumbura, Kamutsenzere. Though this is a male engagement, I however acknowledge women’s presence and thank you because we shall have a time of asking one another because we want to come up with an agreement and resolutions on issues of stressing or abusing one another as couples and marrying off young children. We have come out tops at 50 percent on child marriages. On domestic violence it has changed just now, we were on top. Let us go to number 10 and be the last ones so that I may have dignity and a way of standing before others when it comes to Mashonaland Central Province. I should also raise my head among others as someone from this province. Vana baba muno muprovince, as we now have such a record, what are we saying about violence?

She added, “Men do not want to visit hospitals. Even when the wife is expecting, men do not take kindly to visiting hospitals. They urge women to go and be tested while others take their medication for various ailments at workplaces or on the way home. They do not want their spouses to know that they are on certain medication but they will be putting them to risk. Mashonaland Central I am ashamed of these statistics that is why I have come for us to discuss. What is causing domestic violence, what are we teaching our children? Marrying off children, who is doing this? Is it the men or women? Some fathers are putting bets on their daughters in beer halls. There are some women who start violence by beating men because some of them are phoning on 575 saying this. Some women are lazy and do not use their hands productively to assist their husbands in looking after the family. Who is starting violence in the house?” she asked.

An elderly man responded: “As men we are causing violence because of drugs like musombodiya and you get home and start beating up your wife and children. At times we just get home and sleep because we will be too drunk and deny our spouses conjugal rights then the fighting starts.”

Mr Samuel Nyakabawo concurred that child marriages were rife in the area.

“Children are being married off at a tender age and we are grateful Amai that you have come to engage us because the children’s future is being destroyed. This dialogue is very important because it is going to correct many things,” he said.

Another discussant ascribed the violence to ladies of the night.

“Ladies of the night are causing domestic violence in our homes because when our wives catch us, there won’t be peace in our homes. We will be quarrelling and fighting every day. Promiscuity by men is tearing families apart,” he said.

The First Lady weighed in saying such cases would soon be over as she had empowered the ladies of the night so that they quit the oldest profession and work for themselves.

The love for niceties by women was also singled out as another cause of domestic violence by men.

They said if they fail to provide the ‘nice’ things wanted by their wives, they also start fighting.

Dr Mnangagwa implored families to plan income generating projects so that they can buy all they want.

She spelt out the need for Members of Parliament to educate people in their constituencies about projects being offered by the Women’s and youth banks and how they can access loans.

Another woman accused men of denying the girl child education and marrying her off before it was time.

The First Lady said parents should give their children equal opportunities and not select them on gender lines.

A woman said: “Violence is being caused by men who are lazy and are always looking for beer while waiting for me to do all the work. When we harvest he sells our produce and takes the money and puts it to personal use. Thank you for your programme Amai and I hope our husbands have learnt.”

Dr Mnangagwa invited couples who are living in peace and happiness who then shared their experiences to encourage other couples.

Amai Mnangagwa urged people to continue following Covid-19 protocols of masking up, washing hands and keeping social distance while urging people to be vaccinated and take booster shots.

She said people must ignore those who speak against the vaccine.

The men came up with resolutions which will be put together with those from other provinces to come up with a national position on domestic violence.

A Bulawayo based arts group IYASA staged a captivating, but tear-jerking play highlighting the effects of domestic violence to educate people.

Chiefs were given food hampers while all those who attended went home smiling with maize-meal.