violence then, violence now

I was looking at the history of women and politics in  Zimbabwe during and after independence and I discovered something, the terrain has been marred by violence. Late last year, between November and early December,   several papers including the Standard newspaper, Southern eye and Newsday carried out stories of how female fighters were sexually abused by their male counterparts.

The examples that were mentioned were Joice Mujuru and Oppah Muchinguri, Just to mention but a few. the papers reported that these women had no choice but to do what these men wanted because the men were in power. these women had agreed that these issues were to be picked up after the war, but that never happened because post independent Zimbabwe was run by men who were more interested in competing with other nations and seeking recognition than serving its people. so, things like these were brushed under the carpet so to speak.

I was particulary interested in the above because it serves to show how women were treated even before Zimbabwe got its independence. back then like now, women politicians were not listened to, and they were under the iron hand of their male counterparts. issues like these ones need to be revisited and revised.

Another example of abuse is violence itself. newsday of 19 September 2014 carried out a story of violence against female politicians in Zimbabwe citing the example of Rorina Muchewa (MDC) who was attacked at her home while she was bathing. what message is this sending to other aspiring female politicians out there?

In my view and opinion, female politicians should be given the same respect and treated in the same way as their male counterparts and for that to happen the male politicians have to admit that the way women in politics are being treated at the moment is a big issue that need to be revisited.