Back to Index

Incidents of Rape associated with Political Violence
Amani Trust Mashonaland
August 28, 2002

This statement has been issued in response to several incorrect reports recently published in the local and international media concerning politically motivated rape in Zimbabwe.

This statement is intended to correct any misconceptions and clear any misrepresentations that
may have been created by these reports.

Amani Trust has been working with victims of organized violence and torture (OVT) since 1993, and has published many reports and papers over the past ten years on the effects of state organized violence on community physical and mental health. Amani trust has been working with communities in the rural areas, recording the prevalence of organized violence and torture, both pre and post independence, and testified in the Chidiyausiku Commission of Inquiry.

Over the past two years there has been a rapid upsurge in organized violence and torture, and Amani Trust has been helping to care for the victims and to meet the expenses for their medical treatment.

As a member of the Human Rights NGO Forum, Amani Trust has provided data to the Forum on the numbers of victims and the type of violence that the survivors have suffered, as well as the names of the perpetrators, as many of the perpetrators are known to the survivors.

The Human Rights NGO Forum releases monthly reports in the form of The Monitor, which is widely distributed in Zimbabwe, detailing human rights abuses in the preceding month.

Amani Trust releases occasional reports on specific research topics, such as surveys of Farm workers and the violence they have endured over the past two and a half years, research on the psychological disturbances of victims, and research on the consequences of testifying against the outcome of election results. Amani Trust has previously given statements regarding its work, but it would appear that certain sections of the media have chosen to ignore such statements. Amani Trust only reports on testimony given by survivors, and all reports that are given, are made on survivors that have sought help from the organization.

The incidence of rape that has occurred during episodes of OVT is one of the many aspects that Amani Trust has monitored, and on occasions has issued statements about.

Over the past three months ten women have sought help from Amani after alleged rape because of their perceived political affiliation. Some of the women had been assaulted some time prior to their seeking of assistance, and some had been assaulted within a few days prior to seeking assistance. In each case the victim was assisted in making a Police report in Harare as they often gave the story of being unable to make the report in their districts due to fear and the stigma attached to being a victim of rape. Each victim also gave an affidavit to a lawyer, and to a medical practitioner and forensic nurse. A number of the victims were also assessed by a specialist psychiatrist and were offered the opportunity for HIV testing after counseling. Counseling for the husband and family were also offered. All medical complaints pertaining to the alleged assault were treated by the appropriate specialist. Once treatment was completed the survivors were given bus fares to return home. Many of the survivors required return visits to Harare for further medical treatment.

Because of the intense media interest, both local and foreign, of the plight of women in Zimbabwe, Amani Trust received numerous requests for interviews with survivors. Because of the psychological trauma of having to repeat the story of the sexual assault, Amani asked a number of these victims if they would be prepared to participate in a factual recorded video documentary about their experiences. The majority of the survivors seen in the last three months were very willing to tell their story, and then requested that they told their story in person, rather than have actors in the documentary. These people have been participating in the production of this documentary, to tell the plight of the ordinary Zimbabwe woman and girl child to people both in Zimbabwe and the rest of the world.

The use of the video is not for any court of justice, as no legal system uses edited taped stories as evidence. All redress for these victims will be sought through the normal channels of justice.

It is repeatedly documented in investigations of human rights abuses throughout the world, that the incidence of rape is grossly under reported, because of the stigma and fear attached to rape, and women and children are particularly vulnerable groups in society, especially in the prevailing economic climate. Amani Trust knows that many people are unable to seek assistance from any medical facility, and that even when they do seek help they are reluctant to report that rape has occurred. A number of studies by Amani Trust have shown that the incidence of rape is far higher than what had initially been reported, and therefore is able to comment that there is a high probability that there is far more rape associated with political violence than has been reported to both the medical and legal professions.

Amani Trust does not issue reports on survivors it has not interviewed, examined and counseled. The Trust’s only concern is the plight of the survivors of organized political violence, and it is not affiliated to any political party or other external organizations.

Visit the Amani fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP