Underreported: New Report on Politically Motivated Violence Against Women in Zimbabwe
By: Priscila Néri, Posted: Mar 20 09
Regions: Zimbabwe
Issues: Justice, Rape and sexual abuse, Violence against women
Tags: election violence, impunity, MDC, Mugabe, politically motivated violence against women, RAU, report, zanu-pf
In Zimbabwe's March 2008 elections
, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 47% of the votes and sitting president Robert Mugabe won 42%. To decide the dispute, a run-off presidential election was scheduled for June. However, in the weeks that followed, brutal violence targeted members and supporters of the opposition and - in an effort to stop the violence - Tsvangirai decided to pull out of the race. NGOs in Zimbabwe reported that the political instability in this period resulted in at least 100 deaths and thousands of cases of torture, rape, and abuse. The crisis also caused a collapse of the country's public services, which led to a still ongoing cholera outbreak that has already claimed over 4000 lives.
WITNESS partner Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) spent months documenting politically motivated violence in Zimbabwe
with a special focus on how this violence affected women across the country. In a groundbreaking report released today (March 20, 2009) RAU notes that "violence denies women their most basic human rights and unless the government's legal and security departments are revamped and the culture of aggression and impunity is done away with, women will continue to be susceptible to violence inside and outside their home."
Despite existing legal mechanisms to prosecute the perpertrators, most have not been held accountable for their crimes and there has been little support for the survivors. RAU's report is groundbreaking in part because it was written by Zimbabwean women working inside Zimbabwe - no small feat considering the circumstances. Read the full report here.
We recorded an audio interview with a representative of RAU about the findings of the report and the recommendations to Zimbabwe's new unity government, formed last month through a power-sharing agreement between the main political parties. We are withholding her name and identity due to the security risks involved.
Listen to her interview here:
Coming soon on the Hub: RAU's film about politically motivated violence against women in Zimbabwe - sign up to get an alert when it goes live.
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TAKE ACTION - Here are three things you can do to help get the word out and call for an end to politically motivated violence against women in Zimbabwe:
1 - Read and forward RAU's report
2 - Forward this audio interview to your family and friends and let them know what's happening in Zimbabwe
3 - Write letters, send postcards, and take action at Amnesty's Spring 2009 Action Guide for Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
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Photos courtesy of Kubatana.net
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