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Zimbabwe commemorates the 16 days of activism against gender-based
violence
Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum
November 25, 2011
The Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) welcomes the annual international
commemoration of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence
and the elimination of all forms of violence against women.
The 16 days
provide the opportunity for reflection on what the world at large
can do to challenge the structures that perpetuate violence against
women and in so doing build a more just and peaceful world.
The theme for
this year from 25 November to 10 December is, From Peace in the
Home to Peace in the World: Let's Challenge Militarism and End Violence
Against Women! The theme is premised on the view that values of
non-violence can influence the attitudes of families, communities
and governments in relation to violence against women. Against the
background of civil strike which has beset several nations in 2011,
attention is drawn to the militarism which affected the women caught
up in these conflicts and the consequent devastation that replaced
peace with war in their homes. Militarism is an ideology that creates
a culture of fear and supports the use of violence and aggression.
Zimbabwe is
emerging from a past characterized by organized violence and torture
which has included the use of sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated
primarily by state agents and their ancillaries or by political
activists. Additionally the violence was directed against those
whose crime was to participate in the governance of their country,
bring about democratic political change or exercise their human
rights. In this context, rape was used as a political tool to intimidate,
humiliate and punish women and their communities. Women have been
tortured, assaulted, had their homes and property destroyed, and
been displaced from their communities. The effects for women victims
(and their children) will be long-lasting, and have serious consequences
for the communities in which they live.
The vision of
the Forum is a society free from organized violence and torture
which protects all human rights of all citizens. As such we fully
endorse the call for peace in the home which can and should contribute
to peace in the world. We deplore militarism wherever it is used,
particularly to perpetuate violence against women. The Forum embraces
this opportunity to reflect on the history of violence in Zimbabwe
and joins the world in encouraging the cultivation of peace and
non-aggression in the home which, ultimately, will spill over into
the nation and the world at large.
Forum
Members
Visit the Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum fact
sheet
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