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Respect women's rights
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
December 08, 2006

"As the pads are beyond the reach of ordinary Zimbabweans, women are using unhygienic materials like old rags and newspapers which will have long-term effects on their reproductive health, particularly of Zimbabwean girls."
- Lucia Matibenga (ZCTU).

In the last week of November, police manning a roadblock along the Harare-Bindura highway, seized 81 packets of sanitary pads worth an estimated $129 600 from members of the General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ). The goods were meant to be distributed to farm workers at Docking Farm in Concession.

The sanitary pads, which had been acquired by Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) from Action for Southern Africa, had been collected at the GAPWUZ Harare office for distribution. Along the Harare Bindura Road, police officers manning a roadblock stopped and searched the vehicle before seizing the pads. According to members of GAPWUZ, the police took hold of the goods alleging that former Commercial Farmers had poisoned them. They further alleged that this was meant6 to damage former farm workers so they fail to work.

Police allegedly took the sanitary pads to the police station en route to the Ministry of Health for inspection.

Efforts by GAPWUZ to recover the sanity pads have so far been fruitless as they are failing to get in touch with the Ministry of Health officials. The police also raided GAPWUZ offices in Mvurwi where they again seized 189 packets of sanitary pads with a market value of $302 400, which they claimed, were also poisoned.

Farm workers are among the worst paid workers with a minimum wage of $8 300 a month, which in most cases barely covers the average expenditure. Due to unaffordability, some of these women and girls are forced to use newspapers and cloths, which are not only uncomfortable but also a health hazard. Condoms are viewed as basic and are sold at $100 but sanitary ware, which is also a necessity for every woman is charged at a minimum of $1 600.

It is distressing to note that Zimbabwe’s male dominated Parliament sees no use in subsidizing sanitary ware prices. The government has proved insensitive to the plight of women who, for the past years have called for sanitary ware to be affordable and accessible to every female regardless of their social or economic standing. In 2003, women’s groups advocated for the removal of the 15% tax on tampons and pads as this showed that the government was treating sanitary ware as a luxury. Many debates on the issue transpired in Parliament as some male Parliamentarians dehumanized women by asking them to demonstrate how pads are used.

As the world recognizes 16 days against gender based violence, it is time the government put political differences aside and tried to work for the well being of their populace. It is violence enough to deprive an individual of basic necessities and expose them to danger. Seizing goods, which are meant to improve the lives of poor Zimbabweans shows how stonehearted the regime is and how much they disregard the role of the woman in society. There exists no tangible proof, which shows that the pads were ‘poisoned’. It is only a ploy by the government to smear and disregard the good works being done by Non Governmental Organizations.

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