Harare, Zimbabwe – On March 16, Thokozile Dube was attacked by a group of gangs who attacked her yard in the late afternoon in Mawabeni community in Matabeleland South region, 480km (300 miles) from the capital Harare.
It was 10 days before the parliamentary and local government elections in Zimbabwe, which would represent the main opposition Citizens Change Coalition (CCC) in the race for a local council seat, said the 61-year-old farmer.
These men were said to be around 40, and they came in two vehicles that were said to have the candidate of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) who is running for the same position, she said.
“They parked outside the gate and stormed into my yard with stones and shouting obscenities,” Dube told Al Jazeera. “The people who persecuted me were mostly youths under the command of Silibaziso Nkala and other leaders of their party.”
It was a continuation of the pattern of intimidation, she said, “by the leadership of the local ZANU-PF party, who constantly refused to contest the elections”.
Towards gender parity
Zimbabwe, a deeply conservative country, has consistently registered a smaller number of women as candidates in elections since independence in 1980 compared to men, even though they make up more than half of the population. voters and a total of 15 million people in the country.
The interesting thing is that in 2013, the country in South Africa approved the constitution of equality between men and women, which states that 60 seats are excluded from the 270 seats in the current parliament. The seats are allocated to the parties according to the quota. This may interest you : Column: A bar where women’s sports are played. But after next year’s general elections, the quota will officially expire and the parliament will have only 210 seats.
Despite this quota system, an attempt to achieve equality and encourage women’s participation in national decision-making, women’s participation in politics remains low.
Various views have been used to undermine their ability to be active in politics, analysts say. When they are not seen as too weak to lead, women are portrayed as having poor morals or as mercenaries for the ruling party or the opposition.
It was earlier this month that CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere filed a lawsuit against writer Edmund Kudzayi for allegedly having sex with a married man which caused the breakdown of his marriage. Mahere is seeking $100,000 in damages.
Apart from cyber bullying, there have also been cases of physical intimidation against women politicians.
In the repeat election on March 26 this year, 16 female candidates participated among 118 candidates for 28 seats in the People’s Assembly. In the municipal elections, 76 women competed against 291 men who won 118 seats. Only five female candidates won parliamentary seats while 18 of them emerged in their councils.
And during the run-off, at least six women were reportedly injured or harassed.
Such incidents hamper women’s representation in politics, according to Sitabile Dewa, executive director of the Harare-based Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Enhancement (WALPE), which helps prepare women to contest for public office.
“Recurring violence during elections will have a negative impact on women’s participation in electoral processes as the possibility that elections are violent and intolerant of women is always clear,” Dewa told Al Jazeera.
According to her, women have largely ended the political conflict, which has reduced their interest to actively participate in the electoral process.
From 2018 to date, WALPE has documented 37 cases of women allegedly maimed, tortured and even killed for political reasons.
In 2019, local comedian Samantha Kureya, known as Gonyeti, was kidnapped and tortured by masked men because of her political comedy. The following year, Joanna Mamombe, a member of parliament, was arrested while protesting alongside youth leaders Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marova, both members of the CCC, before resuming torture and ill-treatment. broke two days later.
“Women are often known for peace and unity, so when there is violence in a certain area, be it political or at home, they often feel ashamed,” said Linda Masarira, a political activist and president of the opposition party. of Labor Economists and African Democrats (LEAD).
Masarira attributes the steady decline in the number of women running for seats at various levels of politics to various forms of violence, including cyberbullying.
Despite her vast experience in politics, the former trade unionist and human rights defender, who is behind bars for her role in the 2016 protests, says the attacks are unbearable.
“As women, we go through physical humiliation, questioning of our sex lives and other forms of violence and we don’t see that happening to our male counterparts,” she said. “At some point, the physical attacks began to affect me to such an extent that I really had to have personal safety with me.”
But not all women politicians, especially those in rural Zimbabwe, are able to do so.
Panic mode
Before Dube’s attack, her home, nestled in the rocky valleys and thorn forest of Mawabeeni, was a safe haven. But these days, when all the property is quiet and covered after sunset, the widow and her two daughters – aged eight and 12 – are in a state of panic. And there are also nightmares.
She remembers huddling by the door before kicking it open and being the only woman among the men who were bleeding. Read also : Go Bananas for Women’s Heart Health.
“They destroyed the property and said they are polluting the community. I was shocked the whole time,” she said, adding that they “promised to cut my throat”. That warning happens every day.
Dube reported the incident to the police but complained that they were “dragging their feet” under the pretext of investigating. A group of human rights lawyers have also taken the matter to the courts.
Women’s groups that have long been calling for true equality in all areas of life in the country are once again asking for real safe spaces for women to exercise their civil rights. According to Dewa, systems such as the quota system were only an apology to those loyal to male leadership rather than creating a non-toxic space for women to compete fairly.
“In order to increase the number of women participating in politics, it is important to create a safe environment for women to freely participate in the democratic process,” she said.
Jestina Mukoko, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project – a local human rights monitoring group, agrees.
“The system is built to support men at the expense of women and this will continue unless effective action is taken to punish the perpetrators,” she said. “There should be measures to deter people from recidivism [but] the challenge we have in our country is that the perpetrators of violence are sometimes rewarded.”
Mukoko, a victim of political violence, has received psychosocial support for years since 2009 to deal with the trauma but she herself admits “the scar will never be healed”.
For Dube, fear lingers, but she has hope, however slim, that justice will take its course before her 2023 election campaign kicks off.
“It would be better if those criminals account for their actions, because otherwise they may repeat it next year,” said Dube who is confident that she will win her seat and end the injustice in her community.
