We must stand with the women of Zimbabwe! In the midst of unmitigated gender violence and spiraling inflation whose impact is most felt by women and girls, Zimbabwean women have organized to ensure that the African presidents slated to attend the annual Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) hear their concerns and demands for justice. Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) has joined with WITNESS to create an online campaign calling for accountability for the Zimbabwean women who were raped,
tortured, abducted, and beaten after the highly-contested 2008 elections. According to women's rights groups in Zimbabwe, about 20,000 women were victims of this violence during a campaign of intimidation and retribution sanctioned by the government and carried out by militias. The SADC Summit begins September 2 in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that also holds records when it comes to rampant gender violence that operates in a context of impunity. Is it any irony that despite a peer review mechanism at the regional level, issues of gender violence remain absent from the agendas of our African leaders? Not this time! Advocates seek to break the silence and send a strong message that cannot be ignored.
The RAU Campaign aims to gather at least 2,000 messages by September 2, through a combination of video messages, petition signatures, twitter (re)tweets, comments, etc., to demonstrate the world's outrage at the injustices experienced by Zimbabwean women in the context of political intimidation. Since early August, they have reached out across borders to invite others who believe in justice to add their support to this campaign. The online campaign launched August 17th and has enabled a level of dissemination and organizing that amplifies the concerns of the women of Zimbabwe. Please visit http://hub.witness.org/HearUsStandWithUs to join this important effort.
The Global Fund for Women has supported women's rights groups in Zimbabwe since 1990 and we made our most recent visit in 2008. International Development Exchange (IDEX) has supported community development organizations in Zimbabwe since 1992 and has also witnessed the escalation of human rights abuses over the last five years. Priority Africa Network, an Africa mobilizing and advocacy group, calls on social justice groups in Africa and the Diaspora to stand firm in saying “No!” to violence against women. Together, we join our voices to the RAU campaign to denounce the use of violence against women for any means, and particularly to push political agendas. We denounce the use of rape, sexual assault, sexual slavery, abduction, gang rapes, sexual mutilation and torture to break the dignity of any woman or girl. We call upon the Zimbabwean government to set up safe and user-friendly justice mechanisms to assure that the 20,000 or more women and girls who were victimized get access to free legal, medical, and psycho-social support. Many of these women have fled their homes, some their communities and country, in fear of being targeted once more. As the SADC Summit unfolds Sept. 2-8, let our African leaders demonstrate that they have the courage and political will to speak out against human rights violations that target women.
The RAU Campaign aims to gather at least 2,000 messages by September 2, through a combination of video messages, petition signatures, twitter (re)tweets, comments, etc., to demonstrate the world's outrage at the injustices experienced by Zimbabwean women in the context of political intimidation. Since early August, they have reached out across borders to invite others who believe in justice to add their support to this campaign. The online campaign launched August 17th and has enabled a level of dissemination and organizing that amplifies the concerns of the women of Zimbabwe. Please visit http://hub.witness.org/HearUsStandWithUs to join this important effort.
The Global Fund for Women has supported women's rights groups in Zimbabwe since 1990 and we made our most recent visit in 2008. International Development Exchange (IDEX) has supported community development organizations in Zimbabwe since 1992 and has also witnessed the escalation of human rights abuses over the last five years. Priority Africa Network, an Africa mobilizing and advocacy group, calls on social justice groups in Africa and the Diaspora to stand firm in saying “No!” to violence against women. Together, we join our voices to the RAU campaign to denounce the use of violence against women for any means, and particularly to push political agendas. We denounce the use of rape, sexual assault, sexual slavery, abduction, gang rapes, sexual mutilation and torture to break the dignity of any woman or girl. We call upon the Zimbabwean government to set up safe and user-friendly justice mechanisms to assure that the 20,000 or more women and girls who were victimized get access to free legal, medical, and psycho-social support. Many of these women have fled their homes, some their communities and country, in fear of being targeted once more. As the SADC Summit unfolds Sept. 2-8, let our African leaders demonstrate that they have the courage and political will to speak out against human rights violations that target women.
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