Private security companies urged to assign women daytime duties

Harare (New Ziana)-Women in the security industry should be given the first priority to perform their duties during daytime, the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions has said.

ZFTU secretary-general Kenias Shamuyarira said this while commenting on the case of a 31-year-old woman employed as a security guard in Bulawayo, who was raped while on night duty by her supervisor last Thursday.

The female security guard was deployed to guard a local company when her supervisor visited her on the pretext that he was monitoring guards on duty.

Shamuyarira said it was only proper for women in the security sector to work during day time as they also had other responsibilities in the home as mothers.

“Let us not run away from the fact that women have got other extra responsibilities of looking after children at home, making sure that they are cooked for, they are bathed, so we need to make sure that such duties give leverage, give leeway for a woman who is in the security industry to perform such other duties because they are needed, whether we like it or not,” he said.

“I think it is dependent on the security industry workers union and their National Employment Council (NEC) to make sure that they seek and thrive to balance the recent case and making sure that the security women are given priority to perform their duties during daytime up until we have a conducive environment here in Zimbabwe.”

Shamuyarira said men were also more suited for night shifts since most crimes like robberies and break-ins were committed at that time, and they were better able to handle them.

He said some security companies also assigned night duties to women during early pregnancy before they proceeded on maternity leave.

“And more so, as we are going towards elections we know they will be very volatile. They may be very violent sometimes and it will be very unfortunate for women in the security industry,” he said.

Zimbabwe has recently been experiencing an increase in cases of sexual violence leaving women who have to move around at night increasingly vulnerable.

New Ziana