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 AFROL
Gender Profiles:
Zimbabwe
Although poverty remains the norm and traditional values are
widespread, the Zimbabwean society shows many sign of entering
modernity. As such, gender issues, which belonged to the private and
family sphere, are now discussed in public and abuse is starting to
be taken to court. Zimbabwe is presently experiencing major
political and economic setbacks due to the Mugabe-government's
desparate cling to power. Rural poverty is increasing drastically,
seriously influencing women's situation and their capacity to demand
their rights.
Violence against women, especially wife beating, is common.
Domestic violence accounted for more than 60 percent of murder cases tried in the Harare High Court in 1998.
The media increasingly reports incidents of rape, incest, and sexual abuse of women.
Women remain disadvantaged in society. Illiteracy, economic dependency, and prevailing social norms
subject women to societal discrimination. Customary practices, including the practice of pledging a young woman to marriage with a partner not of her choosing; the custom of forcing a widow to marry her late husband's brother; and the custom of offering a young girl as compensatory payment in interfamily
disputes is deeply rooted in Zimbabwe.
The Remba ethnic group
practice infibulation, the most extreme form of Female Genital Mutilation
(FGM). Culture and religion generally accept and promote polygyny and the marriage of girls at young
ages.
Maternal mortality rate in this country reaches almost 6%!
Each woman in Zimbabwe averagely gives birth to 3,34 children (2000 est.).
Social data
Life expectancy: Total population: 37,78 years
male: 39,18 years
female: 36,34 years (2000 est.)
Alphabetization rate: Total population: 85%
male: 90%
female: 80% (1995 est.)
Medical services: 71% of the pople have access to medical
services. ( 7.143 persons per doctor).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1,03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1,02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1,02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1,03 male(s)/female
total population: 1,02 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Religious data: Traditional African religions 76%, Christian
23,29%.
Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2000 est.)
Family and tradition
There were increasing reports of ritual murders associated with traditional religious practices. The President and his Government exacerbated widespread resentment of the economically prominent European ethnic minority.
Since independence the Government has enacted major laws aimed at enhancing women's rights and countering certain traditional practices that discriminate against women. However, women remain disadvantaged in society. Illiteracy, economic dependency, and prevailing social norms prevent rural women in particular from combating societal discrimination. The literacy rate for women over the age of 15 is estimated to be 80 percent while the male rate is about 90 percent. The 1998 U.N. Development Program's Human Development Report noted that in most regions of the country, fewer girls than boys attend secondary schools. Despite legal prohibitions, women still are vulnerable to entrenched customary practices, including the practice of pledging a young woman to marriage with a partner not of her choosing; the custom of forcing a widow to marry her late husband's brother; and the custom of offering a young girl as compensatory payment in interfamily disputes.
The Legal Age of Majority Act (LAMA) and the Matrimonial Causes Act recognize women's right to own property independently of their husbands or fathers. While unmarried women may own property in their own names, women married under customary law are not allowed to own property jointly with their husbands. During the September land conference, women's rights organizations effectively lobbied the Government to agree to create legislation giving married women joint spousal title to property offered under the resettlement program; however, no such legislation had been enacted by year's end.
In August 1998, the Government denied a petition by women's groups that one-third of land redistributed under the land reform program
be distributed to households headed by women, which reportedly make up one-third of all rural households. At a press conference, Joseph Msika, Minister Without Portfolio in charge of resettlement, reportedly stated, "I would have my head cut off if I gave women land."
The Administration of Estates Amendment Act, which came into effect in October 1997, removed inheritance laws unfavorable to widows. Women's groups regard the act as a major step toward ending the unfair and unequal distribution of inherited assets for women. The President signed the new Inheritance Amendment into law. However, in February the Supreme Court upheld a magistrate court decision that, under customary ethnic law, a man's claim to family inheritance takes precedence over a woman's, regardless of the woman's age or seniority in the family; the Court cited Section 23 of the Constitution, which allows discrimination against women under customary law. Divorce and maintenance laws are favorable to women, but women generally lack awareness of their rights under the law.
Many rural women, including 150 in 1997, reportedly commit suicide at harvest time after their husbands squander income from cash crops.
Indigenous African churches that combine elements of established Christian beliefs with some beliefs based on traditional African culture and religion generally accept and promote polygyny and the marriage of girls at young ages; they also generally approve of healing only through prayer and oppose science-based medicine including the vaccination of children.
The Remba ethnic group practice infibulation, the most extreme form of Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Gender sensitivity in society
The Constitution provides that "every person in Zimbabwe" is entitled to fundamental rights whatever his race, tribe, place of origin, political opinions, color, creed, or sex; however, domestic violence and discrimination against women, abuse of children, and discrimination against the disabled remained problems.
In August the ZANU-PF Women's League voted out leaders associated with President Mugabe. In November the Women's League threatened to boycott the ruling party's national congress in December unless League members were allowed to elect a woman to hold at least one of the four top positions in the party. In December the ZANU-PF congress decided that women would be allotted one out of every three party positions; this decision had not been implemented at year's end.
The Children's Protection and Adoption Act, the Guardianship of Minors Act, and the Deceased Person's Maintenance Act protect the legal rights of minor children, but school attendance is not compulsory at any level. About 93 percent of children reached grade 5. However, with the reintroduction of school fees in urban schools and rural secondary schools, enrollment has declined. If a family is unable to pay tuition costs, it is most often female children who leave school.
The legal system does not discriminate against women or minorities. However, some High Court judges imposed lenient sentences in some cases of rape and child sexual abuse, and local women's and legal organizations challenged these decisions.
Women are underrepresented in government and politics. Twenty of the 150 M.P.s are women, including the deputy speaker of the Parliament. Three cabinet ministers with portfolios, three ministers of state, and three deputy ministers are women. Women participate in politics without legal restriction; however, according to local women's groups, husbands--particularly in rural areas--commonly direct their wives to vote for the husband's preferred candidates.
Health data
Access to potable water: 79%
Medical services: 71% of the people have access to medical
services. ( 7.143 persons per doctor).
Maternal mortality rate: 5.700/100.000
Infant mortality: 62,25 deaths/1.000 live births (2000 est.)
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): The Remba ethnic group practice infibulation, the most extreme form of FGM.
Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2000 est.)
Female genital mutilation (FGM), which is widely condemned by international health experts as damaging to both physical and psychological health, rarely is performed in Zimbabwe. However, according to press reports, the initiation rites practiced by the small Remba ethnic group in Midlands Province include infibulation, the most extreme form of FGM.
Violence against women
Domestic violence against women, especially wife beating, is common and crosses all racial and economic lines. It extends throughout the country and at times results in death. According to Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF), domestic violence accounted for more than 60 percent of murder cases tried in the Harare High Court in 1998. The Musasa Project, a women's rights organization, established the country's first shelter for victims of domestic violence in Harare in 1997. Musasa is attempting to establish a second shelter in Bulawayo for victims of domestic violence in that area. The Musasa Project provided services to almost 3,000 clients at its Harare office in 1998, half of whom were female victims of domestic violence; 39 percent of those who were assisted were minors, victims of child abuse. The Musasa Project reports that 54 percent of the women counseled for domestic violence have sexually transmitted diseases, including many with HIV/AIDS. The media increasingly reported incidents of rape, incest, and sexual abuse of women.
There has been a significant increase in the number of reported rape cases countrywide; most cases involved victims who were minors and family member abusers. Women face many obstacles in filing reports of rape. Many police stations are not prepared to handle properly the investigation of such cases. In addition, women are reluctant to file reports because of the social stigma of rape. Women's groups believe the actual number of rapes is underreported greatly. When cases go to court, lengthy sentences for rape and wife beating generally are imposed. A "binding over" order (an order to appear in court to respond to an accusation of violent behavior) is issued based only on actual physical abuse and not on threats of violence. Courts also do not have the power to oust an abusive spouse from a matrimonial home. Systematic problems and lack of education often mean that police do not respond to women's reports or requests for assistance.
Research conducted by the Training and Research Support Centre (a Harare-based NGO) revealed that one in three working women at all levels were subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace, as defined by Zimbabwean legal experts. The October 1996 to February 1997 study was based on questionnaires from 528 working women.
Although labor legislation prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of gender, women are concentrated in the lower echelons of the work force and commonly face sexual harassment in the workplace.
Several active women's rights groups, including WILDAF, the Musasa Project, the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers' Association, the Women's Action Group, and the Zimbabwe Women's Resource Center and Network concentrate on improving women's knowledge of their legal rights, increasing their economic power, and combating domestic violence. Groups that focus on the issues of protection of women against domestic violence and sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS included the Women and AIDS Support Network and Musasa Project. There is a gender affairs office in the Office of the President headed by Minister of State Oppah
Rushesha.
Main sources: U.S. Department of State, CIA,
UN, HRW, Mundo negro
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