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No to state sponsored violence against women
Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR)
November 27, 2009

"For those who suffer, isolation is their worst enemy and exposure of the atrocities is their only hope."
Speak truth to power Kerry Kennedy

ROHR Zimbabwe welcomes the commemoration of the United Nations 16 days of activism against gender violence and would like to take the opportunity to challenge all men particularly the state to desist from promoting organized violence against women especially during times of political tension as witnessed during last year's reign of terror March-June 2008.

Gender violence is a violation of women's rights and should never be tolerated in its various degrading forms which manifest in psychological and physical harm- rape, torture, brutality, unlawful detentions and political slavery.

The plight of women's suffering during last year's reign of terror can never be over emphasized. They suffered traumatic experiences as both primary and secondary victims when thousands of families were internally displaced by state agents, youth militia, uniformed forces and ZANU Pf supporters.

In line with this year's theme - Commit, Act and Demand, the state stands accused as the major perpetrator of gross human rights violations and therefore needs to take responsibility, assume an active leading role to commit itself towards empowering not undermining women as equal nation builders.

As the situation stands today women in Zimbabwe are in a compromised position to demand their rights due to the tyrannical state machinery and prohibitive legislation like POSA and AIPPA which hinders freedom of expression. Women human rights defenders have been subjected to massive intimidation campaigns to cow them into submission. Numerous recorded cases show that democratic actions like peaceful marches and protests attract brutal penalties from the uniformed forces.

Women constitute 52% of the country's population and yet they remain disempowered, disenfranchised and unfairly represented in governance issues as mirrored by the outcome of the recently negotiated coalition government in which the bulk of the negotiators were men thrust to make decisions on behalf of women.

ROHR Zimbabwe encourages the government to lend an ear to the various voices of victims of gender violence-the down trodden women working daily for a small wage at Foothills farms in Bindura to feed their families, the girl child from the rural areas of Muzarabani yearning for equal opportunity and access to education, the widowed young women in Guruve calling for a place to farm who lost their breadwinners, property, livelihoods to political violence of last year, the aged heartbroken women in Bikita who were brutalized by the militia for their children's political affiliation, the destitute orphans in Mtoko calling for justice for their parents who were murdered by design for political expediency.

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