Reblogged from Research and Advocacy Unit:

This is an article written by one of our researchers which appeared in The Independent (Zimbabwe) on 27 Jul 2012.

The official figures released by ZEC for the results Presidential run-off election of June 2008 indicated that Robert Mugabe had garnered approximately one million more votes than he had during the first round of voting just three months earlier. Yet according to ZEC the voter turnout, was exactly as it had been in March - around 42% of the registered voters.

Read more… 1,132 more words

One cannot continue to commit all these crimes against people – Most of the time your own people – they are killed, they are raped, they are pillaged and a lot of horrendous atrocities take place and when we say never again may be it happens again and again. It has to stop.

Having an African women at the forefront gives a renewed hope that violence against women will be taken seriously by the court and that rape will not be sidelined in the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The majority of the 17 cases currently open at the ICC include charges of rape and this shows that the court is considering cases of sexual violence. An open question remains, if the charges will translate into convictions and justice for the survivors of rape.

In the first verdict handed down by the court earlier this year, the Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was found guilty of recruiting and using child soldiers, while the evidence and documentation of gender based violence was not included in the charges. This was an important step in the global fight for human rights, but at the same time it was worrying that the mass rapes and other atrocities committed against women were not considered in the verdict.

Time will show if Fatou Bensouda will be able to deliver justice to the survivors of rape and set an example to current and potential perpetrators that the targeting of women in conflict and war will not be accepted.

“It is evident that the events of 2008 have taken something from the women. Some have lost the zeal to vote, others their freedom to express which political party they support and to freely campaign for the party…. These events have taken away their power to assert themselves and state clearly their choices.”

These bold words are from the recent report Empower a Woman, Empower a Nation! from the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) about women’s preparedness for the next election given their experiences in the last election.

According to the report, “The violence of 2008 was a reality check of what state-sponsored violence looked like to a woman with political aspirations. Would a woman ever want to take part in politics having seen the reality of what could happen to them?” Security remains the biggest concern Zimbabwean women, who find it hard to see how they can participate freely in the next election. Experiences from the 2008 elections are clear evidence that there is no hiding place for female activists. Women remember how neighbours told the perpetrators of violence which party they belonged to and how people shied away from helping victims, fearing for their own safety.

Since the last elections, women have been denied justice for the crimes committed, and today they feel hopeless and unable to protect themselves. In the current situation where there is no effective and non-partisan system for conducting elections and protecting women there is a high risk of the population taking the law in their own hand. “My children saw the way I was beaten up and they saw me injured. Once in a while I hear them say if they come back again this time around we will have petrol bombs ready to retaliate if they try to harm you again” said one of the women in RAUs survey. This shows a gloomy picture of the future if the government does not make serious efforts to restore law and order in the country before the next elections.

In spite of the fear and apathy, Zimbabwean women remain committed to fight the battle for their rights and they have clear opinions on what needs to be done. In addition to ensuring peace and security and ending impunity, women need education on their rights and economic empowerment to be able to claim their space in the political arena. Equally important is the solidarity between women to jointly fight against the cultural and social perception of women, power and politics.

Download the report Empower a Woman, Empower a Nation!

Explore more research on political violence against women and women’s political participation.

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Speaking at the seminar “African Spring – also in Zimbabwe?” Jestina Mukoko from Zimbabwe Peace Project explains how female candidates are disadvantaged in politics, because they have inadequate knowledge and capacity to campaign effectively. Furthermore women are often victims of character assassination, and female activists are often labelled as prostitutes, when they enter the political battlefield.

Women’s participation is also intrinsically linked with issues of social-economic stability as well as equal access to resources and social services. At a structural level “the issue of women in politics is not only about political position, but also about the lack of a strong social-economic position of women in our society” says Takura Zhangazha, Voluntary Media Council.

Seen in this perspective political violence against women is only the top of the iceberg. It is an enormous problem in itself, but at the same time it is also a symptom of the underlying root causes, in particular the social acceptance of targeting women, not only because of their political affiliation but also because of their gender.

To see an “African Spring” for Zimbabwean women there is  a need to address the underlying cultural and social discrimination that contributes to marginalising women in Zimbabwean politics. And the Government of National Unity must take a lead in developing a culture of equality and social justice.

”Women’s groups, and the relevant United Nations agencies, believe that sexual, domestic and politically motivated violence against women are also widespread and on the rise, especially around election times. Zimbabwe has the necessary legal framework for dealing with these crimes, but – like many other aspects of the legal system – the relevant laws are not being implemented properly. Many women are reluctant to report violence because they have lost trust in the police. Little effort appears to have been made to establish how many women were subjected to sexual violence around the time of the 2008 elections, and even though the identity of a number of the alleged perpetrators is known, there has reportedly been little or no attempt to investigate, arrest and prosecute.”

Pillay’s visit has been planned shortly after the golden promises the Minister of Justice made, when Zimbabwe was reviewed at the Universal Periodic Review mechanism.

Read  Pillay’s full statement here