Development and Social Issues in Africa

Friday, October 13, 2006

SADC unite against gender based violence

By Rebecca Chimjeka

Southern Africa Social Forum (SASF) participants have urged African leaders’ especially those from Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region to unite and have one voice against gender based violence.

The call was made at the opening of the sub-regional forum which is taking place in Lilongwe the capital city of Malawi.

Priscilla Mpundu of the Zambia Association for Research and Development (ZARD) said if the SADC leaders would only speak with one voice when they will no longer be any gender based violence on the sub-region.

“Zambia is facing a lot of gender based violence as the levels of rape incest are on the rise though our leaders have been involved in the signing and ratifying treaties which are not been followed. Our system starting from legislature executive, the judicially, as well as people themselves is being challenged with the high level of gender based violence,” said Mpundu.

She also said her association has been trying to lobby for the gender related bills to pass
in the Zambian parliament so that maybe the evil of violence can be minimised.

She added that women in SADC countries should continue to urge their governments to adhere to what they have been signing like the Convention on the elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights of the child (CRC) and any other treaties concerning women and children rights.

“I want to see children and women in Zambia as well as in the sadic enjoying their rights to the fullest so that they can be able to go to school, and do their work freely,” said Mpundu.

Lillian Dindi from the Livingistonia Synod Aids Program who is also one of the person living with HIV/AIDS, said gender based violence can only be minimised in the country if peoples altitude would change.

“Malawi need to have tough laws in order to curb the gender based violence. Any type of violence is one way or another resulting to the spread of the HIV/AIDS since there is no security if somebody has been forced to have sex,” said Dindi.

She added that government through the judicially have failed a lot of Malawians especially women to bring down the gender based violence.

Malawi judicially has been lenient on the offenders of any type of voice on women.

She however suggested that 40 years imprisonment would be a better punishment for any violator of gender based violence saying that this would help to stop gender legated violence.

A Parliamentarian attending the social forum from Malawi said that it was unfortunate that gender based violence in Malawi is on the increase and that no solution has yet been found.

Boniface Kadzamila Member of Parlaiment of Lilongwe City Central said most of the violence which was being experienced by women and children in the country as well as the whole SADC countries was because of lack of discipline among the perpetuators of this violence.

He said the introduction of democracy in countries has also contributed to this violence since people thought democracy was to do with rights which can be abused.
He observed that time has come for politicians to look into the issue of gender based violence seriously.

Feminist Dialogue unpacks African feminism

By Brenda Zulu

The Southern Africa Social Forum (SASF) yesterday unpacked an African feminist ideology during the gender cluster which presented an ugly picture of domestic violence in the sub-region.

Sara Longwe a gender activist shared the feminist principles which was about the attainment of gender equality and asked participants to answer the questions on what they understand by feminism and how people translated it action in Southern Africa.

It was explained that the global Feminist Dialogue (FD) has been present at other social forum and that it was important for Southern Africa to also discuss issues which they can share at the coming World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi, Kenya.

The main objective of the FDs was to provide a space for open discussion on feminist principles and ways of working on issues of globalisation, militarism and fundametalism prior to WSF. It was also mobilise feminists so that other social forum activists embrace femnists principles in their respective areas of operation at local, national and regional social fora.

It was also observed that organisations that deal in gender based violence issues in Malawi have impacted mostly at awreness level and not much at behavioural change. Presenting a research conducted by the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation in 2005, Nicky Ndovi said there was a high prevalence of violence in communities.

“This indicates that meaningful transformation has not yet started to take place in mindsets guided by traditions in which men dominate women in the politcial, cultural, and economic spheres,” said Ndovi.

She called on everyone to organise themselves for a war of liberation on the different forms of violence that this study identifed as retrogressive in the light of human rights, gender equality and social transformation but also hazdous for a part of the society which was always looked down upon, not only as inferior and unequal to men, but also viewed as children.

Society for Advancement of Women (SAW) however presented real life moving testimonies of gender based violence by allowing women whom have so far sought help from them to share their plight.

In one case a woman was thrown out of her matrimonial home after she was allegded to have thrown radio cassette tapes in a pit latrine toilet. In the second case the woman with five kids was thrown out after the husband impregnanted her maid.

SAW leagal officer Eddah Ngwira reiterated that domestic violence cases where alarming and wondered what interventions could be done in order to curb the problem.