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Friday Networks June - July 2002
Federation
of African Media Women Zimbabwe (FAMWZ)
July 30, 2002
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June
- July Activity Highlights
ZWRCN Gad
Talk on Sex Workers
This discussion was an eye opener for women and men present at this
discussion on sex work.
Two ladies, one reformed SW and another who is still practicing
shared their personal experiences and alluded to the dangers and
misery they have to go through in their work. They both indicated
that if they had a choice they would not be in this job, but there
is always need for " immediate money" which cannot be satisfied
by going to queue for jobs at the industry or work for other people
and wait for the salary at the end of the month. The full story
is in the ZWRCN SW fact sheet. They were appealing for assistance
from the audience and women's NGOs to rescue them from their dilemma.
One of the ladies apparently has a sewing machine but normally gets
clients who are not paying properly for her services, thus was asking
the audience to get a market for her to use her sewing machine profitably.
It was therefore agreed that:
- There is need
to encourage our children to get through their education and get
meaningful employment
- Make the female
and male condom readily accessible to SW's and provide intensive
awareness on use of condoms and the dangers of HIV/AIDS.
- There is need
for legislation to be put in place to give the SW dignity. Legal
women's organisations should mobilize around the issues of decriminalization.
There is need to have a help line for the SW's in case they are
arrested, women lawyers to stand up for these women.
- The issues
of sex workers should be addressed by society at large, in order
to make a change and chart the way forward.
- The National
Aids Council through NAFT could include a vote on HIV/AIDS education
for SW's
It was acknowledged
that the strategies might not be immediate but long term.
Advocacy around
the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
MISA-Zimbabwe has facilitated a number of meetings between
journalists and lawyers on the way forward as far as AIPPA is concerned.
So far tentative action programmes on litigation have been drawn
up and a number of lawyers are in the process of filing court challenges
against some clauses of the Act.
At a meeting
held at the Crown Plaza, journalists, mainly from the independent
media, agreed that they were not going to be accredited as they
did not agree with the AIPPA and being accredited under this Act
would have meant that they had decided to be governed under this
piece of legislation which they considered to be draconian. Instead,
the journalists agreed that they were not going to be accredited,
but would challenge this law at the courts.
Articles Published in the Press
FAMWZ, through its members, has managed to contribute articles to
a monthly FAMWZ gender column in the Parade magazine. The aim of
the column is to highlight gender issues and debates to the public.
Please forward articles about topical issues to the Secretariat
and they will forward it to the Parade staff. The column began in
April and we hope it will be a lifetime feature in this very popular
magazine
Articles in other publications
- Impact of divorce
on children - The Tribune
- Harassment
of students by street kids - The Herald
- Personality
profile (Gladys Paswani) - Sunday Mirror
- Women Pastors
- The Sunday Mirror/Tribune
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