Harare (New Ziana) -The Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) is lobbying for the enactment of the Sexual Harassment Act, which will explicitly define sexual harassment as a crime and provide for very stiff penalties.
ZGC acting chairperson Obert Matshalaga said currently the sentences for the offence are light and do not deter would be offenders.
“Currently our laws are very weak, and sometimes you find people who have raped young girls on bail roaming in the streets. We are lobbying in such a way that if you are in the habit of sexually harassing the other gender, whether you are a man or a woman, we are proposing that it be jail straight,” he said.
In line with the ZGC function of advising the public and private institutions on steps to take on gender equality, the commission, in partnership with the International Labour Organisation, developed a strategy as well as a training manual on ending violence and sexual harassment at the workplace.
Matshalaga said the workplace is one location where women suffer silently and the ZGC wants institutions to be trained on ways of addressing these issues, as lack of gender policies by most private organisations is compounding the problem.
“Women when their rights are violated in the workplace, they find themselves reporting to the same perpetrators,” he said.
The framework that the ZGC has developed, guides organisations to come up with policies and guidelines for minimizing sexual harassment and ensures that it has proper reporting procedures.
The commission has also been conducting sexual harassment awareness programs at workplaces, especially at tertiary institutions where the young people end up becoming victims of GBV.
This year the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprises Development. the Zimbabwe Gender Commission and Musasa jointly organised commemorations for 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV).
The 16 Days of Activism against GBV is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November with the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women, and ends on 10 December with International Human Rights Day.
This year theme was: UNITE! Invest to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls.
The 16 days of activism presents an opportunity to continue the social mobilisation that has been going on throughout the year towards elimination of GBV and support advocacy around awareness and prevention.
New Ziana
