Fighting for the dignity of our women
Women condemn gender violenceBy Inonge Noyoo
Thursday March 08, 2007 [02:00]
IT is very difficult for a Zambian woman who has been abused or discriminated against to find relief, Women for Change field animator Esnart Banda has observed. And women's rights activist Sara Longwe has said there is need to have a human rights approach to deal with issues of gender based violence. Discussing this year's theme of the International Women's Day which falls today, on Radio Phoenix on Tuesday, Banda said although women were still disadvantaged on the basis of their sex, there was no solution and relief to most of their abuse cases due to inadequate laws.
Banda said the existing laws needed to be amended. "We have been running with the same laws for a very long time. Things have changed and so have people and societies. We keep on hanging to laws that were left by our colonial masters, as a result it's very difficult for a woman to find relief because the Penal Code can't provide for such," she said. Banda said women were also still disadvantaged when it came to land ownership. "The woman is basically not supposed to own land and may not be able to inherit even after a male relative dies because one can only own land if it's connected to a male relation and if this male relation does not exist then you may never own land," she said.
And Longwe said there was need to remind society that gender violence was an evil. "In a way we have legislation because we have the bill of rights to specifically deal with gender violence. But what we currently have is only the Penal Code which deals with any form of violence or injustice against other people but it does not quite spell out the violence based on one's sex," she said.
Longwe said the lack of a legislation to deal with gender-based violence was partly due to law enforcers who do not believe in basic rights for everybody. "Part of the reason is that we have enforcers of law who are believers of patriarchy, male dominated belief which makes people think that women are inferior and can be treated like any piece of horrible junk they do not like any time. Sometimes worse than the dog kind of thing," she said. Longwe said the legislation would be of great use especially that gender-based violence was on the increase. "Gender-based violence is so prevalent. It is getting more and more of a daily occurrence and so we need another law," she said.
Longwe said there was need for a constitution that would address gender-based violence. "What we need is a new Constitution although we have some protection in the constitution at the same time these clauses take away from us especially the article that deals with prohibition of discrimination because at the same time that same article has a sub clause which dilutes using sex and gender as a way of discrimination," she said. Longwe said the current provisions in the Constitution allow for some gender based violence practices to prevail. "As women we are very disappointed that the current and the previous MMD government has not facilitated for a new constitution. The Constitution is taking too long on. In the mean time people are dying, girls and women are being maimed, eyes sometimes completely destroyed and if they survive they don't have a good quality life," she said. "But it looks like that won't happen especially with the President's statement that the money has been diverted to floods. They will find excuses and we may again go to the next polls without a new Constitution that protects women and girls."
She said the government needed to realise that by not giving enough money to the constitution making process, it was the women who were most affected. She said gender based violence was in some cases perpetuated by culture and religion. Longwe said the majority of women were not aware of their rights and do not have knowledge of any piece of legislation. "This is because of the way these laws are made which isolates them from the people who suffer. There is an expert group that knows how to draft such laws and there is the expert group that is supposed to enforce them," she explained.
And WILDAF board chairperson and WILSA national coordinator Joyce Macmillan expressed displeasure at the increase in gender-based violence. Macmillan hoped that the new Constitution would be adopted as soon as possible as a way of reducing cases of gender based violence.
http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=23555
Fighting for the dignity of our women
By Editor
Thursday March 08, 2007 [02:00]
Today, March 8, is International Women's Day. This is an occasion marked by women’s groups around the world. On this day, women on all continents come together to celebrate as they look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. This day is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. It is therefore encouraging and pleasing to note that the Zambian government has, with effect from this year, declared March 8 as a national holiday to observe the International Women’s Day. Of course, this action signifies the importance that our government seems to now attach to this day in general and women issues in particular.
This year’s international theme is “Ending impunity for violence against women” and our local theme is “Zero tolerance to violence against women in Zambia”. This theme is very appropriate for this year in the sense that the numbers of women who are physically and even verbally abused by men have been skyrocketing lately. In Zambia, cases of domestic violence against our women are ever on the increase, including in high places. Our government has been called upon several times to address the high incidences of this violence against women by way of providing stiffer punishment against people that perpetuate violence and other forms of abuse against women but nothing so far seems to be in place. Violence against women, or the battering of women by men, has serious consequences on them and their self-esteem in that they are not only physically but also emotionally abused.
The extremely low levels of self-esteem among abused women make them conclude that they are not worth much and probably deserve the violence against them. It is this low esteem that sustains the cycle of violence because women tend to accept that they deserve the beatings and once they are beaten they are supposed to remain quiet about it. But it should be pointed out that men who physically abuse women are animals whose place should be in the bush. And since it might not be practical to take such men into the bush, the only way to curb this animal behaviour is for the government to provide stiffer punishment for such offenders so that they can stay in prison longer than what the current laws provide for. In this connection, it is heart-warming to note that our Zambian women have under a very hostile environment put up a relentless fight for their rights and those of the communities they live in . However, it is sad to note that despite all these efforts, no positive reaction is forthcoming from our government. While the idea of adopting specific legislation on domestic violence or violence against women in general has been discussed informally by the government over the past few years, there appears to be no positive movement on this issue. Again, we would like to call upon the government to urgently discuss, draft and adopt specific legislation for the prevention, prohibition and punishment of people perpetrating the violence against women. As we have said before, this legislation should be drafted in the manner that covers both physical and psychological violence.
Today should be used by women, and men alike, to reflect on how positive change can be effected using the theme. So much talk has been done in the past and today can be a turning point in coming up with a lasting solution to this problem of violence against our women. Let the government commit itself that it will come up with appropriate legislation to deal with the problem of violence against women. It is said that words are good but action is better. There has been just too much rhetoric on this issue. It’s time we saw positive action. But as we zero in on the theme for this year, we should also look at the women’s struggle for equality, justice, peace and development in full. International Women’s Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history. This day is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. And today, the world has accepted that gender equality is critical to the development and peace of every nation.
Our Zambian women have also been involved in this struggle for equality, justice, peace and development in the recent years. But these issues are not new on the scene. Today, all over the world, our women are commemorating this day with the same demands, same concerns, same fears and the same challenges as they did last year and many years before. In fact, new challenges have continued to emerge in addition to the many problems our women faced last year and the years before. In Zambia, there has been a very active talk on the topic of women’s participation in decision-making positions. This talk, even at higher levels, has not translated into the desired numbers - the 30 per cent of women in all key decision-making positions whether at political or other levels. People talk big but achieve small. The talk is more than 75 per cent but the achievement rate is below 15 per cent. And it is clear from experience that our women are still marginalised even in cases where they prove to be better performers than men. But sometimes women themselves perpetuate this marginalisation.
Women should be treated as equal partners in national development, otherwise real development will remain a political pipedream. We have seen many women who have made a big difference in politics, a big difference in society and a big difference in economic and other sectors. Even at family level, women or mothers have played pivotal roles in almost all the successful families. We call upon the girl-child, who is the woman of tomorrow, to stand up and be counted in whatever she is doing. It is not a curse to be a girl or a woman and, therefore, all the bad and weaker things should not be associated with being a woman or a girl.
Women have the right to live in dignity, in freedom from want and freedom from fear. And as we commemorate the International Women’s Day, let us rededicate ourselves to making this a reality. Let us fight the system that reduces the dignity of our women, the system that exploits and dehumanises them. We should today meditate deeply over the challenges our women are facing as we commemorate International Women’s Day. Let us make today a milestone in the movement for gender equality and the advancement of women in our country.
posted by MrK @ 5:40 AM
3 Comments:
Welcome to International Women's Day, March 8th.
Thanks MrK.
"If you educate a man you educate an individual, if you educate a woman you educate a nation"
by Dr Agrrey
But let's also becareful, because there are still eugenicits around whose only interest in women is pushing birth control (population control) on the third world (i.e., outside of Europe and America).
Right now, Africa is underpopulated. It just looks overpopulated in places, because entire populations are excluded from much of their own countries.
Which is the underlying reason why we need land reform.
And I guess I resent it a little, when people don't honestly state that there is a flood of women's stories, because of the United Nation's Women's Day. Or a flood of AIDS stories/statistics on World AIDS Day (december 1st, every year) and the weeks leading up to it.
Honesty in reporting is what I'm looking for. :)
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