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WOZA statement on Valentine's Day protests
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
February 17, 2006

On 13th and 14th February 2006, women, old and young, and a few brave men left their homes to go into the streets calling for Bread and Roses. They were prepared to be arrested and to spend nights in police custody in order to deliver this message to the country's leaders. In Bulawayo, 174 women, 7 men and 14 babies were arrested and in Harare, an estimated 242 women and 5 babies were arrested, many of whom spent more than three days in custody.

What made these people leave their families? Is handing out roses and asking for food now a criminal offense deserving arrest? Is a peaceful procession of singing women a threat to the powers that be? The answer is YES! The so-called 'Liberation Government' has a problem. It cannot feed its people and give them the respect and dignity they deserve, represented by their call for Roses too! When there are thousands of empty kitchens what can a mother feed her children? Life for Zimbabweans now echoes the song sung by the 1912 strikers in America: "Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses."

The Bread and Roses theme was selected as a fitting beginning for WOZA's Social Justice campaign. As we go out onto the streets in the coming months, our demands for a socially just Zimbabwe will continue and become even clearer. As we continue to protest, we will also be consulting across Zimbabwe asking people to share their views and opinions on what is needed for dignified living. We will be coming to a place near YOU and asking you to DREAM with us! We will also be asking you to join us in marching to turn those dreams into POSSIBILITIES. We believe the solution is in our own hands and even 'babies' are doing their share of the work.

As International Women's Day comes and goes, the women still recovering from their stay in the cells find nothing to celebrate. But they have high morale as they know that they are doing something towards bringing about social justice. They look upon their suffering in police cells as work they do in their fields; hoping to one day reap a better living. They no longer call it a prison cell or a jail but they call it their 'garden'; some even say it is a 'park' where you go to relax and daydream of a better tomorrow.

But this is what really happened to us in the police cells. In Bulawayo the cells were too small to accommodate the number that was arrested so we were kept in a wire cage in the courtyard of the police station. As it was raining heavily, we were all soaked to the skin. To keep warm, we sang at the top of our voices for the more than eight hours we were outside. We sang revolutionary songs and danced. Some of the police officers joined in and even made requests for us to sing certain songs. Later that night, the police bar inside the station was cleared and all of us squeezed in with three police guards. Some of us managed to sleep along the bar counter and under the pool table, but still many had to sleep seated. The next day, three leaders were sent in advance to court but the prosecutor advised the state to proceed by way of summons and release all of us. It took us from noon to six pm to get everyone out of custody due to further harassment. Those who had not gone to court were made to stand in the blazing sun for hours before they were allowed to sit down.

In Harare some women were arrested while on their way to the protest and some as they completed the peaceful protest outside parliament. For three days, their lives were turned into a living hell. Over 100, many elderly grandmothers, were forced to remove all of their underwear and threatened with rape. They were denied food and water; assaulted by booted officers; made to sleep on sewerage and human waste; kept in the blazing sun without water; subjected to psychological torture by being threatened with prolonged detention and being told they had to pay a fine in order to be released, in denial of their right to be formally charged and taken to court. Many of the women who are HIV positive were denied food and their anti-retroviral (ARV) medication. Eventually the most resistant 63 women were taken to court on the Friday after a court order was issued - they are currently on free bail.

But will this treatment stop us from continuing? The answer is a loud NO! We will continue to visit the park to daydream until we have a Zimbabwe where there is a decent standard of living and past injustices can be remembered without a sharp stab of pain in the heart because they would have been dealt with.

Why is WOZA consulting about social justice? What are our objectives?
· to insist that our leaders understand the issues that concern ordinary people
· allow the voices of grassroots people to be consulted and heard and decide their own future
· talk about the basic and fundamental rights that belong to us all and build an equal society
· come up with community-driven agenda of social justice around which we can all mobilise for action. We must help each other to dream and to turn those dreams into possibilities
· create and raise expectations of people as to what political leaders should deliver and how to hold them accountable in a non-violent manner

An overview of initial consultations on social justice
Social justice can be defined as a way where people have equal opportunities/access to social, economic, cultural, religious and political needs regardless of race, gender, creed or any other form of discrimination and where past injustices have been dealt with.

It includes the following:

• Full enjoyment of all social, political, economic and cultural rights
• An equal society, including gender and ethnic equality
• Respect for human rights, including women's and children's rights
• Freedoms, including speech, assembly and association
• Respect and tolerance of diversity - culture and religion
• Transparency and accountability
• Equal participation in political and economic decision-making
• Equal application of the law - access to justice and understanding of the law
• Correction of past injustices such as Gukurahundi and Murambatsvina
• Gutsaruzhinji/inhlalakahle yabantu (Good living)
• Access to affordable education
• Access to adequate and affordable food
• Access to affordable housing, electricity, sanitation and clean water
• Access to affordable healthcare and medication including anti-retrovirals (ARVs)
• Equal and fair access to fertile land, inputs, equipment and secure ownership
• Equal opportunities to resources, employment, self-help projects and the right to earn a living wage
• Development of adequate infrastructure and access to affordable transport
• Environmentally sustainable usage of resources

The consultation process continues - we would like your opinion on how we can make Zimbabwe a socially just nation. Email us at wozazimbabwe@yahoo.com or write to us. Join us in the street to see how your dreams can become possibilities…

Visit the WOZA fact sheet

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