2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002

2006

ZIMBABWE: Women refugees in South Africa claim rape and torture at home
December 7, 2006 - (IRIN) The South African government has been condemned for its "complete silence" over the high level of rape reported by Zimbabwean women applying for asylum, at the hands of the security forces in their country. At least 15 percent of the Zimbabwean women refugees who visited a counselling centre run by the Zimbabwe Torture Victims/Survivors Project (ZTVP) in Johannesburg over the past 20 months alleged they had been raped.

Women's right activists arrested
December 6, 2006 - (Green Left) Sixty-three Women Of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) members were arrested on November 29 during a peaceful launch of its People’s Charter. They were taken to Bulawayo Central Police Station. WOZA leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were among those arrested.

Zimbabwe: Women Human Rights Defenders Bear Brunt of Govt Oppression
December 1, 2006 – (Zimbabwe Independent) As the world commemorated International Women Human Rights Defenders Day this week, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) takes the opportunity to highlight some of the hazards faced by such activists in their work to protect and promote human rights.

Women demand 50-50 share of political power
November 17, 2006 - (ZWNEWS) Harare - At least 50 Zimbabwean women demonstrated in Harare yesterday demanding a 50 percent share of the country’s political power.

Zimbabwe - Women's 'Tough-Love' Protest Demands Change
November 9, 2006 - (Fahamu) Love. That's the key ingredient of a Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) strategy to unseat the Mugabe regime. Miriam Madziwa reports. Women in Zimbabwe are taking to the streets to show their frustration with poor governance, lack of basic social services, and unprecedented increases in the cost of education.

Women Legislators Ululate As House Passes Domestic Bill
November 8, 2006 - (The Herald) The Domestic Violence Bill that seeks to provide for protection and relief to victims was yesterday passed in the House of Assembly with amendments. The proposed law now awaits transmission to the Senate for consideration. There was jubilation and ululation among female lawmakers from both sides of the House when the Bill finally sailed through.

Zimbabwe Court Frees 180 Women
November 7, 2006 (Voice of America) A judge in Zimbabwe has dropped charges against 180 women charged with taking part in anti-government protests. Members of two groups, Women of Zimbabwe Arise and Men of Zimbabwe Arise, had been arrested during a peaceful demonstration in August.

Over 150 women charged under draconian law of POSA in Zimbabwe
November 7, 2006- (CAJ) About 152 members of the Women Arise of Zimbabwe (WOZA), dubbed Operation Sunrise Demonstrators appeared before a Bulawayo magistrates court on Tuesday facing charges public disorder, breach of peace or bigotry.

Zim women 'selling sex for fuel'
November 2, 2006 - (Sapa-dpa) Women in central Zimbabwe are selling sex to truck drivers for fuel, reports said on Thursday. They say it is more profitable than being paid in cash, police spokesperson Costa Taduwa told the Daily Mirror, which is a private but mainly pro-government newspaper.

Event speakers call for more women in decision-making
October 23, 2006 - (UMNS) The equality of men and women is vital to having a just and developed society, according to Zimbabwe's deputy minister of Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development. Abigail Damasane urged more participation of women in decision-making in her opening address during the Oct. 9-13 commemoration of the life and work of Dag Hammarskjöld.

MDC Suspends MP Mubhawu
October 16, 2006 - (Zimbabwejournalists.com) TIMOTHY Mubhawu, the MDC Member of Parliament for Mabvuku, has been suspended from the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC as a result of chauvinistic statements he made in parliament two weeks ago about women.

Gender activists protest MP's anti-women remarks
October 11, 2006 (IRIN) Women's organisations are outraged by an opposition parliamentarian who urged the national assembly not to pass a bill aimed at stamping out domestic violence, because women were inferior to men.

Zim allows women to demonstrate against MP
October 11, 2006 - (SAPA-DPA) Police in the Zimbabwean capital Harare allowed dozens of women to demonstrate against statements made in parliament by a controversial opposition MP, it was reported on Wednesday.

Woza women walk free
October 3, 2006 - (SW Radio Africa) Four Women Of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) walked free after the State withdrew charges following a plea of not guilty. The women had been arrested at Matshobana Hall on June 16th while they were having a meeting about self help projects.They were charged under the Public Order and Security Act for failing to notify authorities.

More Women Needed in Councils - Chombo
September 25, 2006 - (The Herald) Government respects the participation of women in local government and will endeavour to further increase their involvement.

Zimbabwe women plead for curbs on domestic violence
September 21, 2006 - (Reuters) When Sarah Mandiopera said she wanted to attend a funeral - the second in three days - her husband refused. When she insisted on going, he bludgeoned her to death in front of their three young children. Those children, the eldest a 10-year-old boy, met Zimbabwe legislators and the public at a hearing on Thursday on a proposed law to curb domestic violence.

Arrested WOZA woman gives birth
September 12, 2006 - (Zimbabwejournalists.com) A baby has been born to one of the 91 women arrested by riot police here yesterday, WOZA has reported.

Another court victory for Women of Zimbabwe Arise
August 29, 2006 – (SW Radio Africa) A Harare Magistrate on Monday threw out charges against 63 members of the group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) saying giving roses and singing on Valentine’s Day is not a nuisance.

Women of Zimbabwe Arise Assembly
August 16, 2006 - (zimbabwejournalists.com) Three hundred and twelve delegates, including 25 men, attended the annual national assembly of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) this weekend (11th – 14th August.) Those present were members of WOZA and civic society organisations. The theme of the assembly was ‘Defending Women Defending Rights – Woza Moya’. Known as ‘Sheroes’, the WOZA Assembly honours modern day ‘sheroes’ - ordinary women doing the extraordinary –at the same time as the government of Zimbabwe honours other ‘Heroes’.

Women Chiefs Push for Quota System
July 25, 2006 (Herald) Women chiefs in Southern Africa are pushing for a quota system in the election of executive office bearers, a move that will guarantee significant representation in national associations. The women chiefs also want stiffer sentences for rape offences. In separate interviews during the just-ended annual chiefs' conference in Kariba, the women chiefs said they are not different from their male counterparts and should therefore get equal respect and representation.

Male MPs Must Apologise
June 25, 2006 – (Zimbabwe Standard) THE Women's Coalition is deeply concerned by the statement that "single female MPs should get married", made by the Honourable MP of Mabvuku Timothy Mubhawu to female members of Parliament as highlighted recently in the media.

Zimbabwe: Economic Empowerment Projects Promote Women's Rights
June 26, 2006-(The Herald) RURAL economic empowerment projects for women have a far-reaching impact in the promotion of women's rights and in shaping the destiny of their lives, Canadian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Ms Roxanne Dubé said last Thursday.
"I cannot think of any other right for women than the right to earn money and the right to earn a living on their own," she said commissioning a $13,4 billion economic empowerment project for women at Nyamahumba Primary School in the Nyanga North District of Manicaland Province.

Zimbabwe: 'Zim Accedes to Dictates On Gender'
June 19, 2006 - (Herald) Zimbabwe has acceded to a number of regional and international dictates that seek to eliminate gender discrimination and advance gender equality, a Cabinet minister said last week. Officially opening the general meeting of Women in Local Government Forum (WLGF) in Harare, the Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Cde Orpah Muchinguri said WLGF has made a significant progress in mainstreaming gender in urban councils and local government and ensuring that their concerns were properly addressed.

Over 100 WOZA women arrested in Bulawayo today
February 13, 2006 - Hundreds of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) members and students marched for eight blocks through central Bulawayo today to the government offices at Mhlanhlandlela, calling for 'bread and roses' - the need for daily survival and the right to a dignified life. Having completed their march, the women were beginning to disperse when riot police arrived. Initial reports suggest that over 100 women, including Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, and at least two men and a 14-month old baby have been arrested. Jenni Williams has also reportedly been separated from the others, many of whom have been left outside in the courtyard in torrential rain. Lawyers have been contacted and are en route to Bulawayo Central Police Station.

African leaders break silence over Mugabe's human rights abuses
January 4, 2006 - (The Guardian) President Robert Mugabe's human rights record has been condemned for the first time by African leaders, significantly increasing pressure on the Zimbabwean leader to restore the rule of law and stop evicting people from their homes.

2005

Law Must Protect Women, Children From Violence
December 11, 2005 - (The Herald News) - The law should protect women and children from gender-related violence as cases of such nature are rising everyday, High Court Judge, Justice Nicholas Ndou, has said.

Gender Violence As a Conflict Issue
December 11, 2005 - (Zimbabwe Standard) Good news is hard to come-by these days, and while there is not much for Zimbabweans to be proud of, there is much which should cause them to hang their heads in abject shame. Of all our ills, none is more unacceptable than our frightening statistics on rape and violence against women. As we come to the end of the dozen year old "16 Days of Gender Activism," a lot of debate has been stimulated. I have also attended a number of discussions for this eventful fortnight. As a conflict worker and peace activist myself, it is in this spirit that I write.

Forced Sex Blamed for High STD/HIV Transmissions
July 24, 2005 – (Zimbabwe Standard) Lack of power by women and girls to broker for safe sex within relationships and marriages raises their risk of getting HIV infection and being infected by Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), a research conducted by a United States based organisation has shown

Mauritian Women Seek More Representation
July 6, 2005 (The Herald) - Eight years ago Southern African Development Community (Sadc) leaders signed a declaration aimed at promoting and achieving a target of at least 30 percent women representation in all political and decision-making structures in the public and private sectors of their countries by 2005.

Six Girls Raped Daily: GCN
June 15, 2005 - (The Herald) On average six girls, most of them from child-headed families, report rape daily in Zimbabwe, the Girl Child Network (GCN) said yesterday.

WAG Blasts Police
June 13, 2005 – (Zimbabwe Standard) The Women Action Group (WAG) has accused police officers in Beitbridge of demanding sexual favours from commercial sex workers in exchange for their release

WOZA Calls Zimbabweans To Action Saturday 18 June 2005 - A Day To Restore Our Dignity
June 7, 2005 - (WOZA) Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) deplores the ongoing treatment by the Zimbabwe Republic Police of citizens attempting to eke out a living by informal trade. With unemployment at over 70%, most Zimbabweans have tried to survive by becoming fulltime or part time vendors.

WOZA Statement
May 29, 2005 - (WOZA) Three WOZA women arrested yesterday remain missing until 3 pm today when they were located at Queens Park police station, they are unharmed. They were last seen at 3:15 pm on 28 May, in the company of aw and order officers being driven into the bush outside Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe: Take Women's Education Seriously
May 27, 2005 - (The Herald) Women's contribution to Zimbabwe's development can be strengthened by education and training, Vice President Joice Mujuru has said.

ZIMBABWE: WOMEN PUSH FOR HIV STATUS DISCLOSURE LAW
May 20, 2005 – (IRIN) Zimbabwean women have called for legislation that compels spouses to reveal their HIV status to their partners.

Zimbabwe: Under-Representation of Women in Parliament Disappoints Activists
May 3, 2005 - (IRIN) Although the recent appointment of a female vice-president is seen as a positive step, gender lobbyists in Zimbabwe continue to agitate for more women in public office.

Zimbabwe: More than 250 women arrested - some badly beaten
April 4, 2005 - (Amnesty International) Amnesty International is outraged at the arrest of more than 250 women after Zimbabwe police broke up a peaceful post-election prayer gathering in Harare yesterday evening.

Domestic Violence Should Be a Corporate Concern
January 20, 2005 - (Financial Gazette - Harare) Zimbabwe recently joined the rest of the world in observing 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Plans are also at an advanced stage for the enactment of a Domestic Violence
Act by our own legislature.

Gender-Based Violence And HIV/Aids - Establishing the Link?
January 9, 2005 - (Zimbabwe Standard Harare) GENDER-based violence has often been understood as a private or domestic problem, which cannot be discussed in public. Many a woman has normalized the problem to the extent of accepting at it as justifiable. Statistics show that one in four women in Zimbabwe report having experienced sexual violence by an intimate partner.

2004

State Remains Committed to Addressing Gender Issues
October 15, 2004 - (The Herald - Harare) The Zimbabwean Government has, since the adoption of the 1995 Beijing Declaration, made significant strides in removing obstacles to women's participation in all spheres of public and private life, the Deputy Minister of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation, Cde Shuvai Mahofa, has said.

The Role of Legislators' Spouses in Law Making
October 7, 2004 - (Financial Gazette - Harare) There are punitive laws that have been passed without careful assessment of their impact on citizens. Some of these laws have even worked against the very legislators.

LIBERATION WAR STORY CANNOT BE COMPLETE WITHOUT WOMEN
August 4, 2004 - (The Herald) The liberation war was a fierce struggle that saw thousands of lives being lost in the bid by Zimbabweans to regain their motherland that had been taken by whites.

ASPIRING, SITTING MPS COMPLETE TRAINING
August 2, 2004 - (The Herald) Ninety aspiring women parliamentarians, sitting legislators and former women Members of Parliament last week completed a two-day training session where calls were made for the lobbying of political parties to restructure for the advancement of women in politics.

WOMEN'S CAUCUS MEETS IN THE CITY
July 28, 2004 - (The Herald) The delegation representing the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Regional Women's Parliamentary Caucus yesterday held a meeting with the Zimbabwe's Women's Parliamentary Caucus and discussed various issues focusing on the participation of women in politics.

ZIMBABWE: WOMEN ACTIVISTS ARRESTED
June 21, 2004 - (IRIN) Police in Bulawayo arrested 78 women activists at the weekend as they attempted to stage a demonstration to mark World Refugee Day and draw attention to the plight of Zimbabweans "living like refugees", an official of the NGO, Women of Zimbabwe (WOZA), told IRIN on Monday.

PRESIDENT HAILS DEFENCE FORCES' GENDER POLICY
June 5, 2004 - (The Herald - Harare) The Zimbabwe Defence Forces' policy of promoting gender equality continue to be boosted by the presence of several female cadets in the officer cadet training courses, President Mugabe said yesterday.

A WOMAN OF ZIMBABWE ARISE (WOZA) TRIBUTE TO DUDU
May 16, 2004 – (Africa Files) This week I was arrested and spent 24 hours in custody with Dudu and 8 other women. Dudu tells me she was born in 1980, the year Zimbabwe became independent. She could be referred to as a 'born free'. She is already a mother of a 6 year old and is 6 months pregnant. We were together in a demonstration calling for a new constitution.

MAKING THE LAW LESS OF AN ASS
April 27, 2004 – (IPS) As thousands of Zimbabwean women have discovered, the law is a blunt instrument when it comes to domestic disputes that threaten health and well-being.

INSTEAD OF TARGETING SEX WORKERS, POLICE HARASS ALL WOMEN
April 5, 2004 –(IPS) It is retold so often that the account of how an embarrassed government minister rescued a female relative, who had been caught in a police sex worker crackdown he sanctioned, has become something of an urban legend.

PRESIDENT APPOINTS 3 WOMEN TO TOP POSTS
February 26, 2004 – (The Herald - Harare) President Mugabe has appointed three women to important positions within the Public Service Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General's Office.

SUBVERSIVE FLOWER GIRLS, GUNS AND ROSES
February 22, 2004 – (Zimbabwe Standard - Harare) Armed police in the troubled central African police state reacted promptly to the now annual threat of small groups of women distributing roses and love letters on Valentine's Day.

ZIMBABWE: VIRGINITY TESTING STRIPS GIRLS OF THEIR DIGNITY, SAY GROUPS
February 17, 2004 – (IPS News) They form a single file. Some are singing, though their voices have been dwarfed by the hum of the stream. The girls, estimated around 50, are being accompanied home by three middle-aged women from a nearby river.

WE DIDN'T STOP WOMEN FROM DEMONSTRATING: POLICE
February 16, 2004 – (The Herald - Harare) Police yesterday said they did not stop any Valentine's Day demonstrations by Zimbabwean women but their application had not been granted by a Bulawayo High Court.

ZIMBABWE: VALENTINE'S DAY MARCH STOPPED
February 16, 2004 – (UN IRIN) Police in Zimbabwe on Saturday dispersed more than 100 women who were planning a Valentine's Day march to urge national reconciliation in the capital, Harare.

FORUM CALLS FOR HEAVY PENALTIES FOR RAPISTS
February 16, 2004 – (The Herald - Harare) Enkundleni Men's Forum has called for stiff penalties for child sex offenders, saying present sentences were too lenient to deter the practice.

PRESS STATEMENT BY WOMEN OF ZIMBABWE ARISE (WOZA)
February 15, 2004 – (WOZA MOYA Newsletter) WOZA activists wish to announce that a successful protest was carried out on Valentines Day in Chitungwiza and 5 other suburban centres in Harare despite fact that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) refused to allow other protests to proceed and threatened to "shoot to kill" any protesters. Peaceful love marches had been planned for Bulawayo, Victoria Falls and central Harare but ZRP were fearful that the spirit of love would overcome hate.

ZIMBABWE POLICE BAN 'LOVE' MARCH
February 14, 2004 – (BBC) Zimbabwe police have stopped women activists from holding a Valentine's Day march in the capital Harare. The group, Women of Zimbabwe Arise, had been planning to march against political violence and what they call the spread of hate across the country.

MURDER, RAPE, TORTURE AND ARSON AT CHARLESWOOD ESTATE
February 10, 04 – (Africafiles) Sheni Chimbarara, a farm worker on Charleswood Estate in Chimanimani, was shot dead by Zimbabwe National Army soldiers last night. A second farm headman by the name of John Kaitano was shot and injured.

ZIMBABWE: WOZA PLANS ANOTHER VALENTINE'S DAY PROTEST
February 4, 2004 (IRIN) - The Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), an activist organisation formed last year, plans to return to the streets of the capital, Harare, on 14 February, St Valentine's Day, the anniversary of its first protest action against the rising cost of living.

WOMEN REFUGEES IN ZIMBABWE AND LEBANON WORK TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE IN CAMPS
January 2004 - (Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP) E-News letter Issue #6) In the past several months, nearly 100 women and girl refugees participated in leadership development workshops organized by WLP and its partners Machreq/Maghreb Gender Linking and Information Project (MACMAG GLIP) in Lebanon and the Women’s Self-Promotion Movement (WSPM) in Zimbabwe. MACMAG GLIP and WSPM facilitated workshops that provided training in effective communication, collaborative decision-making, and techniques for articulating and developing individual and group projects.

ZIMBABWE: TACKLING GENDER VIOLENCE
January 20, 2004 – (IRIN) Zimbabwe's women are doubly disadvantaged by the country's four-year-old economic crisis. They are not only expected to manage dwindling, inflation-hit household budgets, but many are also victims of a corresponding rise in domestic violence.

2003

REPORTS OF RAPE AND TORTURE INSIDE ZIMBABWEAN MILITIA
December 28, 2003 – (NYT) Last March, Debbie Siyangapi took the pulpit in an Anglican church here in Zimbabwe's second-largest city and confessed her darkest secret to several hundred worshipers. Within an hour, she had donned a nun's habit as a disguise and slipped out of the church through a side entrance, literally fleeing for her safety, said Ms. Siyangapi and human rights groups that are now sheltering her.

REPORT OBJECTIVELY ON GENDER, MEDIA URGED
December 16, 2003 – (The Herald - Harare) THE media should report objectively on gender and HIV and Aids-related issues, a senior gender activist has said.

POLICE ARREST WOMEN OF ZIMBABWE ARISE PROTESTORS
December 5, 2003 – (Zimbabwe Independent - Harare) SEVERAL women are reported to have been injured and others arrested when riot police broke up a demonstration organised by Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) to protest against food shortages in Bulawayo on Wednesday afternoon.

WOZA PLANS PROTEST
November 30, 2003 – (Zimbabwe Standard - Harare) A women's group, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza), will next week stage street protests against high prices of food and shortages of basic commodities, which it said were forms of domestic violence.

THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE: WOMEN ARE KEPT TRAINED, YOKED AND TIED
November 25, 2003 – (Media Institute of Southern Africa - Windhoek) Two years ago the Ugandan nation was shocked when its Vice President Dr Specioza Kazibwe revealed that she divorced her husband because he beat her.

PUBLIC JUSTICE AGAINST VIOLENCE IS A WOMAN'S RIGHT
November 25, 2003 – (Media Institute of Southern Africa - Windhoek) As we approach yet again the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, we must ask ourselves how can these days come and pass each year with no significant milestones to stop all forms of violence committed mainly against women?

MAKING THE MAJORITY VISIBLE
November 25, 2003 – (Media Institute of Southern Africa - Windhoek) The conflict and crisis in Zimbabwe is portrayed as a struggle for land redistribution from white males to black males; as a power struggle between two males; or, it is presented as the white man's plight.

CHIPAWO LAUNCHES KWANATETE PROJECT FOR THE GIRL CHILD
November 23, 2003 – (Zimbabwe Standard - Harare) THE Children's Performing Arts Workshop (Chipawo) has launched a new project called Kwanatete, which is a workshop for young girls on the brink of sexual maturity.

A GENDERED DIMENSION TO THE ZIMBABWE CRISIS
November 20, 2003 – (Pambazuka News 133 – Editorial) Zimbabwe has been experiencing a number of problems in recent years. This is due to both man-made and natural causes leading to human suffering and at times death. The major problems can be traced back to the rejection of a government sponsored constitutional reform that was followed by “fast track” land reform as the government blamed commercial farmers for its demise.

HELP THE WOMEN OF ZIMBABWE-HELP PLANT SEEDS OF PEACE AND DEMOCRACY IN ZIMBABWE
November 2003 – (Information from IFOR) There is a crisis in Zimbabwe. Humanitarian aid agencies estimate that 50 percent of the population face hunger. Inflation is over 300 percent. There are severe shortages of petrol and other essentials, including maize seeds. The burden of caring for their families and communities in such a crisis falls heavily on women's shoulders.

WOMEN MUST FIGHT DISCRIMINATION
October 7, 2003 – (The Herald - Harare) SHE is a former Malawi High Commissioner to Zimbabwe and a judge in Malawi's highest court. Despite her being instrumental for change in the customary law that made it possible for women to inherit property, she lost everything, including a house following the death of her husband in 1996.

UN 'LETTING TORTURER ESCAPE'
October 3, 2003 – (The Guardian) The United Nations broke its own anti-torture convention by allowing a Zimbabwean police officer accused of torture to leave its peace force in Kosovo and return to Zimbabwe where he will probably not face investigation.

SEX ASSAULT NOW A POLITICAL ACT IN ZIMBABWE
September 5, 2003 -(WeNews) When they came knocking, she thought they were thieves. But the soldiers who pushed through her door with guns, batons and ropes were there to take her dignity, not her property.

ZIMBABWE WOMEN MOURN THEIR LACK OF POLITICAL CLOUT
September 4, 2003 - (IPS) As crucial municipal polls got underway in Zimbabwe on August 30 and 31, gender activists could only marvel at how little inroads women have made in politics.

ZIMBABWE WOMEN BEAR BRUNT OF STATE SPONSORED VIOLENCE
August 19, 2003 – (Daily News) In 18 months, Amani Trust, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to the assistance of victims of violence in Zimbabwe, has documented 16 cases of rape. Sixteen - not even one a month. Not enough to make the case for the systematic rape of women during Zimbabwe's political crisis. Not enough to make anyone sit up and take notice. However, this relatively small number belies the degree to which women have been and continue to be targeted in the continuing political violence.

WOMEN RAISE THEIR VOICES
August 13, 2003 - (IRIN) As momentum gathers for renewed talks between Zimbabwe's rival political parties, civil rights groups have highlighted the impact of the ongoing political and economic crisis on the daily lives of women in the country.

NGOS ACT TO CURB SEXUAL ABUSE
June 22, 2003 – (Zimbabwe Standard - Harare) The international humanitarian community in Zimbabwe has come up with a plan of action to curb the widespread sexual exploitation and abuse of refugees and internally displaced women and children by humanitarian workers and peacekeepers, it has been learnt

WOMEN ARRESTED DURING MOTHER'S DAY MARCH
May 12, 2003 – (IRIN) Forty-six women were arrested and detained during a Mother's Day march in Zimbabwe on Saturday, Jenni Williams, a spokeswoman for Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), told IRIN.The women had been carrying out a symbolic street-sweeping in the country's second city of Bulawayo at the time of their arrest, "to sweep away the violence and torture of people, and to get our house in order," Williams said. The women also demanded fairer food prices.

SEXUAL ABUSE RISES AS ZIMBABWE'S HUMANITARIAN CRISIS WORSENS
April 24, 2003 - (IRIN) "Before I came here, I was feeling very guilty, but now I feel much better," said 16-year-old Tendai, twisting her hands nervously.

FOCUS ON RAPE AS A POLITICAL WEAPON IN ZIMBABWE
April 8, 2003 - (IRIN) "In a Dark Time", a documentary film about sexual abuse in Zimbabwe perpertrated by pro-government militia, premiered last week at Witwatersrand University, one of South Africa's most respected tertiary institutions.

RAPES LINKED TO GROUPS TIED TO RULING ZIMBABWE ZANU-PF PARTY
March 20, 2003 – (UN Wire) Human rights workers and church groups in Zimbabwe say youth militias and other groups linked to the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party are using rape as a political weapon, the London Guardian reported Tuesday.

VIOLENCE MARS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY DEMONSTRATIONS IN ZIMBABWE
March 10, 2003 – (UN Wire) Six women were reportedly injured and 19 arrested Saturday at an International Women's Day gathering in the western Zimbabwean city of Bulawayo.

AT LEAST 30 WOMEN ARRESTED IN PEACE PROTEST OUTSIDE U.N. OFFICE IN ZIMBABWE
February 14, 2003 – (UN Wire) At least 30 women and two journalists were arrested today at a Valentine's Day peace protest outside U.N. offices in Harare, Zimbabwe, staged by the group Women of Zimbabwe Arise, which had been declared illegal under the country's new security laws. They planned to deliver a letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan as a symbol of love and peace.

2002

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS IN ZIMBABWE EXACERBATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
December 5, 2002 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's economic problems are exacerbating violence against women and their sexual exploitation, women's groups say.

STEPS TAKEN TO PROTECT WOMEN REFUGEES AGAINST ABUSE IN ZIMBABWE
December 2, 2002 (IRIN) - Steps have been taken at Zimbabwe's Tongogara refugee camp to stamp out allegations of sexual abuse following two incidents at the camp earlier this year, David Mlambo, UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) administrator at the camp told IRIN on Monday.

WOMEN BEAR THE BURDEN OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
August 16, 2002 - (PAMBAZUKA NEWS) The numbers speak for themselves; women in Zimbabwe are bearing the enormous burden of domestic violence. Last year alone 22 women were reported to have committed offences against men compared to the 181, or eight times as many men reported to have committed offences against women in Mashonaland Central province.

FIGHTING AGAINST ALL ODDS
August 10, 2002 - (PAMBAZUKA NEWS) Zimbabwean woman Angeline Mugwendere narrates her story of how she overcame her gender, rural background and poverty to get education and become successful. Now she helps people from her community set up businesses and establish
themselves.

POSITIVE WOMEN: VOICES & CHOICES
August 7, 2002 - (PAMBAZUKA NEWS) The International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) developed a project encouraging HIV positive women to share and document their experiences of living with HIV, particularly in relation to sexual and reproductive health and needs. In Zimbabwe, Positive Women: Voices and Choices has been quite outstanding in its process and outcomes. HIV positive women, from resource-poor mainly rural communities, were elected by their support groups to be trained to collect data and analyse the findings. The process of teamwork gave the women skills and self-confidence and they are now strong advocates from their communities, representing the issues of HIV positive women in many fora and making presentations at high-profile, national and international events.

THE DYNAMICS OF SEX WORK
June 14, 2002 - (PAMBAZUKA NEWS) A series of resources on why women become sex workers, and how they can get out, from the Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN).

Back to top

The opinions expressed in the articles carried by this site are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, PeaceWomen Project.