How foolish is it to have on the one hand AIDS activists (including the government) giving out condoms especially to sex workers and on the other hand police officers taking these away from them?

In a report Criminalizing Condoms, published by the Open Society Foundation it is revealed that Zimbabwean police officers are amongst those who confiscate condoms from sex workers. By carrying condoms the police assume that women are prostitutes.

In as much as prostitution is illegal in Zimbabwe the state however should not be discouraging safe sex practices. If one is ‘proven’ guilty of prostitution let the law apply. But assuming that one in possession of a condom is a prostitute and further going on to confiscate condoms is absurd.
The report brought to light that in some countries where sex workers are arrested and have their condoms confiscated, they still make it back to the streets on the same night and end up having unprotected sex. And in other instances, sex workers have resorted to not carrying condoms at all to stay safe from police harassment or arrest. Confiscating condoms places the life of sex workers at risk and compromises disease prevention.

Photo: The Guardian

On the Guardian today, a reminder that revolutions often start in culture.

The art of reading starts with a habit and every habit has a trigger. Reading helps people understand life and it teaches you how to write. Most great writers were inspired to write through reading. For writers, reading is one of the most important tools.

Writing is a skill, which one masters through practice. It gets better through writing a lot and reading widely. During a Food for Thought session at the US Public Affairs Section in Harare visiting award-winning authors from America shared some reading and writing experiences with young and upcoming writers in Zimbabwe. In order to encourage young writers to read, the visiting authors urged young authors to be broad minded. The authors from University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (IWP) are in the country to facilitate writing and capacity-building seminars with Zimbabwean writers.

Zimbabwe is to hang three men in its first executions in the country since 2005. The men who committed murders have been in jail for as long as seven years. The Supreme Court confirmed yesterday that the three would face the death sentence. For a long time human rights groups have appealed to the government to abolish the death penalty. The call to abolish the death penalty was even appealed for by Pope John Paul II, during a visit to Zimbabwe in 1988. Today in 2012, Zimbabwe’s new draft constitution still upholds the death penalty with the exception of females.

Out going US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray had this to say at a farewell round table yesterday:

… my time here in Zimbabwe has been interesting or to quote a favorite science fiction of mine, fascinating. It’s never been boring. It has often added a few more grey hairs to my already grey hair; I have never regretted any day I have been here, mainly because of the most valuable resource in this country, its people. There has been a lot of news about diamonds and other stuff, but the most valuable resource that Zimbabwe has is its people and that is what makes it fascinating to be here even sometimes during less than happy times.

Read more on the US Embassy website.