WOMEN’S rights organisations have called for stiffer penalties for perpetrators amid a surge in gender-based violence (GBV) cases.
The country recently joined the rest of the world in launching the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, which focuses on preventing violence against women and girls.
However, gaps have remained in addressing GBV in the country with challenges including weak accountability mechanisms, limited human and financial resources, among GBV stakeholders, inadequate funding for national responses and low public awareness of GBV laws, rights and available services.
Speaking to NewsDay on the sidelines of the 16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence march in Harare last week, Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe chairperson Muchanyara Mukamuri said they expected government to immediately put in place strict measures to end the scourge such as implementing the Domestic Violence Act which deters perpetrators from continuously perpetrating violence against women.
“We also expect government to address the issues that bedevil society. For instance, we have seen that cases take too long to be processed in the courts, and the perpetrator roams around the streets, sometimes even boasting,” she said.
Mukamuri said prosecution must be accelerated, adding that mandatory sentences for perpetrators should be in place.
“We want government to act speedily and we wish not to treat rape of children, minors, as child marriages, that is rape, because a child is a child and they don't even know what it means to have sex.
“Perpetrators should get heavy sentences just to deter them or others from repeating such. We have recently had a budget being announced and there are quite a number of issues that are coming in, some of which people are not yet aware of, that could possibly incite conflict within the household,” she said.
Apostolic Women Empowerment Trust (Awet) head of programmes Kudzai Dunhira said cases of GBV were at an all-time high within the apostolic sect hence all hands must be on deck to mitigate the scourge.
“Gender-based violence has been something that we can call a disaster within the context of the apostolic setting because we face different types of gender-based violence, which is why it is important for us as Awet to have an organisation that is led by women, standing up for women, to make sure that we fight for gender equality within the apostolic churches.
“We have lots of child marriages that are happening. We have lots of abuse that's happening within apostolic communities so part of our response to this has been engagement within the apostolic communities,” she said.
Dunhira said they were holding engagements and intergenerational dialogue with leadership from different apostolic churches to ensure that there are policies within those churches that actually protect women and girls.
