Let us stop SGBV against women and girls

Let us stop SGBV against women and girls

By Letwin Mubonesi

As the world is getting closer to commemorate 16 days of activism, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Status Report on Violence Prevention (2014) reveals that one in three women and girls experience physical and sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) in their lifetime.

Only 4% of them report the violation to the police due to fear of stigma.

The report also notes that 43% of adolescent girls in Zimbabwe who are between 13-17 years reported that their first incident of sexual intercourse was unwanted and unplanned hence showing that cases of rape and sexual violence are under-reported.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also increased domestic violence and child marriages.

The national Gender Based Violence (GBV) Hotline run by Musasa an organisation that deals with issues of violence against women and girls and providing relief to survivors of GBV recorded more than 6 800 GBV-related calls from the beginning of the lockdown on March 30, 2020 until the end of December with an overall average increase of over 40% compared to the pre-lockdown trends.

Musasa says, “About 94% of the calls we receive are from women and girls. Child marriages remain a challenge, with 33, 7% of girls aged 18 are married compared to 2% of boys who are married before reaching the age of 18 years.”

SGBV offences are often committed in private places without any witnesses and the lack of evidence hampers the functionality of the justice system hence it demotivates survivors to report these cases.

Building on the launch of the High-Level Political Compact (HLPC) on Ending Gender-based Violence and Harmful Practices by the Government of Zimbabwe on October 27, 2021, the country can now mark a key milestone in the criminal justice system in Zimbabwe, with the launching of a new state-of-the art forensics laboratory at Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).

The HLPC is a commitment by the government of Zimbabwe to leverage the efforts made under the Spotlight Initiative and ensure access to timely and quality services including forensics for all survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

It has been made possible through United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) under the Spotlight Initiative and will enable the use of forensic evidence in the trial of sexual and gender-based violence cases.

The Spotlight Initiative supported by the European Union and implemented by several UN agencies including UNICEF is dedicated to eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls while ensuring justice for survivors.

With this new state-of-the-art capacity, the ZRP forensic laboratory can now swiftly inspect these samples, analyses them, and present its findings to the National Prosecuting Authority as evidence that will considerably increase the conviction rate of perpetrators.

The global theme for this year’s 16 days of Activism against SGBV which will run from 25 November to 10 December 2021 is ‘Orange the world: End violence against women now!’