30 years on: What is life like for the women of Zimbabwe?
By Info | May 21, 2010
In the 30 years since Zimbabwe gained independence much has changed within the country. From the early days of success when the country was referred to as the bread basket of Africa, Zimbabwe in recent years has slid into political and economic chaos, which the heavily criticised power-sharing agreement of 2008 between ZANU PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) seeks to resolve. Life for Zimbabwean women has followed this rollercoaster of change and as the country struggles to overcome political and economic difficulties, women continue to bear the greatest burdens.
Positively, the 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) recognises the importance of women in nation-building, yet in reality they are marginalised politically and only a handful of women hold positions of key responsibility despite accounting for over half of the population (52 per cent). With women’s representation in parliament standing at around 16 per cent, Netsai Mushonga, National Co-ordinator of the Women’s Coalition says, “There is a scandalously low representation of women in the new set-up”. Unless there is a significant improvement in the next election, Zimbabwe will not meet the gender equity protocol set by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for women to hold equal positions to men in public and private sectors by 2015.
Access to healthcare is another area in which women face real inequality. 21 per cent of adult women in Zimbabwe are HIV positive compared to the national average of around 15 per cent. Although condom use has increased in recent years amongst men, a lack of affordable contraceptives has led to high infection rates amongst women as couples practice unprotected sex. Without access to healthcare and medical assistance during pregnancy, women also risk infecting their children through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). Zimbabwe had begun to address the issue of MTCT but due to the political, economic and social crisis, much of the progress made is in danger of being reversed.
Gender disparity also occurs within education where girls are increasingly forced to leave school before boys due to financial constraints on the family (families have to pay mandatory school fees in Zimbabwe); leading to a lack of knowledge on subjects such as health and sexually transmitted diseases amongst girls. Girls aged between 15 and 18 who do not attend school are on average five times more likely to contract HIV than those who stay in education.
Women are also common targets of domestic and political violence. Rape in particular was used as a political weapon by ZANU PF against MDC supporters during the 2008 elections. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) have pushed for the rights of women to be noticed and highlight the frequency and seriousness of domestic violence and rape. Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World states “The politically-orchestrated and systematic campaign of sexual violence unleashed against women who supported the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) carves yet another chapter in the annals of Robert Mugabe’s legacy of depravity.”
Zimbabwean women are also suffering first hand the effects of the country’s economic crisis. Plaxedes Chironda, for example, works for a rose grower, earning just $1 a day. It takes her three days to earn enough to buy one bottle of cooking oil. But with unemployment currently standing at over 90%, to some Plaxedes is one of the lucky ones. Women throughout Zimbabwe are struggling to provide food and education for their families.
As a result women often forgo some of their own basic needs. Many women have resorted to using improvised sanitary protection as they can no longer afford to buy sanitary pads or cotton wool. Some insert scrunched up newspapers or rags during their periods, whilst others line their underwear with bark or leaves. These methods have wide ranging consequences, many women develop infections or sexually transmitted diseases through the cuts and sores the materials cause. Others cannot leave the house whilst they have their periods as they are unable to rely on the sanitary protection they are using.
Women in Zimbabwe have played and continue to play crucial roles; yet often they are regarded as support roles and women are often not asked what are their needs and priorities, as distinct from the needs and priorities of their families. When the Women’s Council of the Zimbabwe Congress Trade Unions did ask women about their own needs, sanitary protection was identified. It was something many women in Zimbabwe had prior to the crisis in Zimbabwe but had been removed. Nobody had previously identified this as a real need, nor was anyone trying to meet it.
ACTSA believes that every woman should have the right to proper sanitary protection. The Dignity! Period. campaign, launched by ACTSA in 2005 in partnership with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, distributes free sanitary pads to the women of Zimbabwe. Since the campaign began ACTSA has distributed over six million and helped restore dignity to the women of Zimbabwe. The campaign continues to provide much needed sanitary protection to the women of Zimbabwe, visit www.actsa.org/dignity for more information.
Since independence, little has changed for Zimbabwean women. They continue to be sidelined socially, politically and economically and life is still hard. But we can make a huge difference to the lives of many women in Zimbabwe by providing them with essential sanitary protection. By supporting the Dignity! Period. campaign, thousands of women will benefit from improved sanitary resources and be relieved of a huge burden in their lives. They will have improved health and also most importantly their sense of self–esteem, their dignity upheld, recognised and retained.
Find out about the Dignity! Period. campaign here.
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