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Media coverage of gender and the Constitution-making process
The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
March 27, 2012

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Introduction

A constitutional document embodies a society's highest aspirations. In the words of the former and late Chief Justice of South Africa, Justice Ismail Mohammed, a constitution is " . . . not simply a statute which mechanically defines the structures of government and relations between the government and the governed, it is a 'mirror of the national soul', the identification of the ideals and aspirations of a nation, the articulation of the values binding its people and disciplining its government".

As such, a constitution presents a powerful emancipatory tool in women's struggle to shatter the centuries-long "glass" ceilings of patriarchal oppression. This study examines the role played by the country's mainstream media as a key stakeholder in giving significance and visibility to Zimbabwean women's fight for gender equality in the on-going constitution-making exercise.

Zimbabwean women have certainly come a long way from their culturally imposed roles as housewives and homemakers. Previous studies have highlighted how women's oppression was entrenched by the colonial authority and perpetuated by the new black political elite (dominated by men) who, in the aftermath of the liberation war, called on women to resume their "respectable' roles as mothers" in spite of their joint effort to liberate the country.

However, in large measure due to a vigilant women's movement for gender equality, Zimbabwean women have progressively clawed their way into the public sphere to lay claim on the national stake. Today, women represent a significant percentage of the professional workforce and are political office holders.

In a major highlight for female political representation, the country boasts of a female Vice-President, Joice Mujuru, and a female Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khuphe - the politics around the appointments notwithstanding.

But the battle is far from over. Zimbabwe's current Lancaster House constitution was primarily to transfer power from the colonial authority to the black government. In a view echoed by other gender activists, Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Jessie Majome, has described the constitution as "one of the worst in the world" in terms of women's rights and equality. Gender activists argue that Section 23 of the supreme law perpetuates the discrimination of women in issues to do with inheritance, death, marriage, divorce, and other 'customary' issues. This confirms observations by gender expert and policy strategist Janah Ncube that women's fight for constitutional justice is based on "the discriminative and exclusionary texts of the constitution" and that Zimbabwean women's fight for a new constitution is a fight for fundamental rights.

However, in a major boost for the gender equality campaign, the coalition government committed itself to ensuring "full citizenship (for women) and gender equality" in the on-going constitutional reform exercise that is informed by the desire for a "people-driven" constitution. The rewriting exercise therefore provides an important rallying point for women to consolidate gains and plug all legal inadequacies that perpetuate their discrimination.

The media is a key stakeholder in the process as gender and media activists posit that the press cannot be truly free when almost 52% (women) of the population is muted. The research therefore assesses the Zimbabwean mainstream media's role in giving space and visibility to women's concerns, voices and participation in the constitution-making process to ensure the full realisation of their rights.

The three main phases in the rewriting exercise, which began in 2009, are: the public consultation phase, the drafting stage and the referendum where the proposed constitution will be put to a vote. At the time of compiling the research, the revisional exercise was at the writing stage where the views of people from the outreach process are being compiled into a draft.

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