Zimbabwe: 'Protection of Women Vital'

By, The Herald (Harare), March 13, 2008

Southern Africa HIV and Aids Information Dissemination Services has commended Government for enacting laws and policies that protect women and advance gender issues in the country.

In a message to mark International Women's Day last Saturday, SafAids executive director Mrs Lois Chingandu singled out the Domestic Violence Act in Zimbabwe.

The enactment, she said, was in line with efforts to protect women in the region like what happened in South Africa and Mozambique.

Mrs Chingandu also noted the ascendancy of women to top political positions in the region such as vice-presidents in Zimbabwe and South Africa and Prime Minister in Mozambique, as a major step towards the emancipation of women.

"It is important to note this year that as women we have come a long way in terms of legislation and policy. Let us make sure that all these strides work for the advancement and promotion of women's cause," she said.

However, the organisation was quick to note that despite the strides made in the past years, resources channelled towards women's empowerment continue to dwindle owing to stiff competition from other social programmes.

She said faced with stiff competition from other programmes such as male circumcision, treatment, arms and equipment, among others, it was likely that women will not access both treatment and prevention of HIV and Aids services unless they are empowered.

"Empowerment should not only be about big projects that will ensure women cannot only feed their families, but about supporting women to reach and occupy leadership positions in business and in the community."

Mrs Chingandu said African women were still suffering from an inferiority complex precipitated by cultures and beliefs resulting in continuation of gender-based violence.

She said due to inferiority complex, women were still unable to negotiate for safer sex and have no power over their reproductive health and rights.

"There is need to empower women so that they can begin to challenge the status quo, culture and tradition that has ingrained in them this belief that they should not speak out even if they are being violated," Mrs Chingandu said.

In the past two years, SafAids has been looking at the linkage between culture, women's rights, HIV and Aids.

Mrs Chingandu reiterated that cultural values like forced virginity testing, polygamy, wife inheritance and the belief that a woman is not good enough unless she is married and has children, should be addressed.

International Women's Day commemorations have been scheduled for Friday and will run under the theme "Investing in Women and Girls" with a focus on financing for gender equality and empowerment of women.


Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200803130132.html