TWENTY-TWO women are raped in the country every day and there was a 74 percent increase in reported cases between 2010 and 2018.
Statistics compiled from police records show that one woman
is abused every 75 minutes and an average of 646 women are being sexually
abused monthly.
President of the Senate, Mabel Chinomona, in a dialogue
session commemorating 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in
Harare, said GBV cases spiked sharply during Covid-19 lockdowns.
She stated that GBV has robbed women of their societal
participation.
“We cannot let this continue, we need to come together and
put an end to gender-based violence,” she said.
She said a national hotline, run by Msasa Project, recorded
more than 6 800 GBV-related calls for the period March 30, 2020, to the end of
December 2020.
“Given that 94 percent of the calls were from women, it
goes without saying that women and the girl child bear the disproportionate
impact of domestic violence,” she said.
She said GBV was a worldwide problem as the United Nations
estimates that one in three women experiences sexual or physical violence in
their lifetime.
“Within the SADC region, GBV is high and it varies across
member states.
“Physical violence ranges from 6 percent to 34.4 percent;
sexual violence from 4 percent to 25.5 percent, while emotional violence ranges
from 15.9 percent to 36.5 percent.”
She also bemoaned the way in which victims of rape and GBV
are asked to bring the perpetrator when they make a report to the police.
“We need to do better as a people,” she said.
She said the fight against GBV should be waged every day of
the year instead of intensifying it only during the 16 days.
Speaking at the same event, Child President, Unathi Nyoni,
said the growing number of victims of GBV was worrying.
“We are coming for the perpetrators of GBV, these figures
are alarming and we cannot let this continue,” he said.
“Gender-based violence is a pothole stopping us from
achieving our sustainable development goals.
“We need more funds for GBV services and we need to empower
children so that they can open up.”
The 16 days are commemorated annually from November 25 to
December 10.
The Government has enacted various legislation to protect
victims, but stakeholders have called for stiffer sentences for offenders. H
Metro
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