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    Zimbabwe fights GBV through women empowerment

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    By Sharon Tawuya

    Harare, (New Ziana) – For years, 33-year old Patience Sibanda endured heavy beatings and abuse at the hands of her husband. Like many women in Zimbabwe, she felt trapped – financially dependent on her husband and with few options to escape the vicious cycle of poverty and violence.

    “I had entirely nothing on me, no cash, nothing. I had to stay with him because I had nowhere to go and no means to support myself and my four children,” Sibanda recalls. And my husband knew this and used my desperate situation to control my life.”

    The bashing went on unabated. Sadly, Sibanda’s story is all too familiar in Zimbabwe, where gender-based violence remains a huge burden for this Southern African nation of 17 million people. The country’s latest Demographic and Health Survey says over 35 per cent of women have experienced physical violence, and 14 per cent have endured sexual violence from an intimate partner.

    In addition, over one in three women in the country have experienced physical violence since the age of 15, the survey notes. This has prompted the government, along with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other development partners, to focus on initiatives to boost women’s economic independence – a vital cog in combating gender-based violence countrywide.

    With programs supported by the United Nations’ Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Sibanda and many other women are benefiting from essential skills and resources to start their own small businesses, ranging from urban agriculture, mining, fence making, rural agricultural production to textile production.

    Sibanda is part of Tswaranang Basadi Safe Space Group of women in Gwanda district in Matabeleland South Province.

    Here, the women were taught how to make fences which they are now selling to schools and other people in the community. They also make and sell detergents.

    In this way, ‘safe spaces’ are being established across the country, providing survivors of gender-based violence with emergency shelter, counselling and pathways to financial stability.These initiatives are proving to be a powerful tool in the fight against gender-based violence.

    The safe spaces also support a network of internal savings and lending schemes. By enabling women to accumulate savings and access small loans, these groups not only build their economic resilience, but provide a vital community of support.

    Sibanda says: “I’m excited to say that I now support myself and my children. I’m no longer trapped or afraid.” Tswaranang Safe Space Group takes turns to raise money to buy a fence to secure their homesteads as well as goats for rearing.

    “At Tswaranang, I found my voice, connected with others in similar situations and learnt that I had options. It gave me the courage to start rebuilding my life,” said Sibanda.

    UN Women’s research indicates that for every US$1 invested in women’s economic empowerment initiatives in Zimbabwe, there is a US$5 return in reduced costs related to gender-based violence, including heath care, legal services, and lost productivity. These safe spaces take many forms – from community centres to virtual support groups.

    But at their heart is the idea of providing a sanctuary where women can find solidarity, share their experiences, and mobilize for change. According to Musasa, a women’s rights and advocacy group, drought increased the risk of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, child marriages as well as harmful traditional practices.

    The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises has been implementing a six-month project in partnership with UNFPA and other UN agencies with support from CERF, as part of the drought anticipatory action plan to prevent gender-based violence during the drought period.

    Started in January 2024, the short term initiative to mitigate women against drought effects, the project aims to strengthen gender-based violence services to vulnerable women and girls in eight affected districts of Chipinge, Buhera, Mwenezi, Chiredzi, Hwange, Umguza, Beitbridge and Gwanda.

    The new CERF funding will provide life-saving assistance to nearly 32 000 women. Speaking recently at Masiyephambili Safe Space in Umguza district in Matabeleland North Province where he led other UN agencies to appreciate the role played by CERF projects in strengthening resilience to drought, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Edward Kallon said the economic empowerment of women goes a long way in fighting against gender-based violence.

    “The awareness has been raised and you are going beyond awareness and talking of economic empowerment,” he said. He added: “These projects don’t just transform individual lives, they have a profound ripple effect on communities and the economy as a whole.”

    UNFPA Zimbabwe country representative, Miranda Tabifor said as a technical implementer of the CERF project, her organization was satisfied with the results of economic empowerment of gender-based violence survivors as a strategy to fight the vice. Jane Ngwenya, a member of Masiyephambili Safe Space Group, said having her own money had reduced violence in her household.

    Marjorie Sikundla, Matabeleland South Province director in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises, said through CERF, women were now independent and could live peacefully with their spouses without violence.

    “When you empower women economically, you don’t just improve their individual circumstances, you strengthen the whole fabric of society, making it more resilient to violence and injustice. That’s the kind of transformative change we need,” she said.

    “During emergencies like drought and cyclones, GBV levels escalate. But once we put in place mitigatory measures like what has been done by the CERF project, the incidences are reduced,” Vimbainashe Mutendereki, executive director of Musasa, said in an interview.

    Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises chief director responsible for gender, Lilian Takaendesa, told parliamentarians recently that her Ministry is now using economic empowerment as a measure to prevent GBV. “We are now using economic empowerment as one way of fighting GBV.

    The shift in household dynamics is critical, as it gives women more control over resources and reduces their financial dependence on abusive partners,” she told the legislators.

    Women’s economic empowerment demonstrates the powerful role that this initiative can play in tackling the prevalence of gender-based violence in Zimbabwe.

    The multi-stakeholder participation approach of providing financial services, social support, and rights education is proving to be an effective, and winning strategy.

    New Ziana

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