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Youth Agenda Trust press statement on 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence
Youth Agenda Trust
November 26, 2012

Youth Agenda Trust joins the rest of the World in commemorating 16 Days of Activism against gender based violence, a period set aside to reflect on the devastating effects of violence that emanates from the household level and its link with the escalation of human rights violations across the world.

The global theme for this year's campaign, From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let's Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women! fits perfectly well in Youth Agenda Trust's broader vision of a democratic society that is devoid of human rights violations and this year's commemoration presents us an important opportunity to escalate our fight against gender based violence.

As Youth Agenda Trust, we remain greatly concerned by the level of state sponsored violence against women human rights defenders in Zimbabwe. Women human rights defenders have been tortured in detention and continue to suffer at the hands of suspected state agents, youth militias and suspected political party aligned war veterans. This violence ranges from sexual violence to physical assault and has diminished the confidence of women who are fighting injustices and human rights violations in Zimbabwe.

Women in Zimbabwe are also vulnerable to abuse especially during times of conflict as was witnessed in the disputed presidential elections in 2008 which saw young women being forced to join semi-military camps where they were raped, tortured and killed by youth militia who had the blessings of the ruling class. Zimbabwe is again faced with another make or break election in 2013 but structures that exposed women to violence and abuse in the last election are still in place hence it is highly likely that the youth militias will again unleash terror on defenceless women.

Youth Agenda Trust calls on the Inclusive Government to ensure that Article 7 of the Global Political Agreement, Promotion of Equality, National Healing, Cohesion and Unity which is a key deliverable of the Government of National Unity is implemented in full and in good faith to ensure an environment of peace, tolerance and respect among Zimbabweans irrespective of gender or political affiliation.

We also call upon the Zimbabwe Republic Police to arrest without fear or favour those who commit violence against women and to ensure the safety of human rights defenders especially women who have always been on the receiving end of political violence and police brutality.

Youth Agenda Trust unreservedly supports the position of women on the provisions of the current draft constitution which gives women rights, leadership roles and privileges which they can easily use to challenge injustices such as gender based violence in a court of law. We urge all Zimbabwean men to join their women counterparts in the fight against gender based violence.

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