Hosted by Def Zee (Definitely Zimbabwean) at the US Embassy’s Public affairs section, was a discussion entitled The Small House Saga. The team from Def Zee showed 2 video clips, one of an interview with a young woman who is currently a small house (having a committed relationship with a married man), and a prostitute from the Avenues area of Harare.

Small houses, are a growing phenomenon and are very much an ‘officially’ unofficial part of societal and family structures. It is not to say that this is a new practice. Men have been having long-term extra-marital affairs, even having families, since time immemorial. The majority of men at the event thought that having a small house was okay. The small house interviewed explained that she was faithful to her man and that she trusted that he was faithful too and that they therefore do not use condoms. The truth of the matter is that many people are not faithful, and since couples tend not to protect themselves during sex when in these types of relationships than in casual sexual encounters, small houses may be loopholes that continue to spread HIV.

The role of prostitution in the spread of HIV/AIDS was also discussed. The prostitute interviewed revealed that over 75% of the men who paid for sex with her did not want to use a condom, and that the vast majority of her clients were indeed married men. Nearly half the audience was in favour of legalizing prostitution in order that the country can benefit from the tax revenue and that the practice may be monitored and regulated for the safety of all involved. The reasons women turned to this ‘profession’ were also explored, with poverty being identified as the chief reason. Clearly, the issues of small houses and prostitution are multi-faceted and require careful consideration, but it is encouraging to see youth talking about such issues in the hope of curbing the spread of HIV. Let me leave you with a question that was asked at yesterday’s discussion: In light of the prevalence of small houses and prostitution, do you think that an HIV/AIDS-free generation is achievable in Zimbabwe?

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In the past few months there seems to have been a drastic increase in media reports on gender-based violence with all manner of atrocities coming to light. We have heard reports of women being stabbed with kitchen knives, burnt with irons, and hacked with machetes.  It would seem that media coverage on GBV is on the rise. However, the media is not giving a comprehensive and gender-sensitive picture of GBV, but a sensationalized one. Pat Made of Genderlinks observed that most reporting on the issue is featured in the ‘Courts and Crime’ section of newspapers and that the issue of GBV is coming to the news agendas as events “and not as an issue that’s having a negative impact on the economic, social, and political fabric of our society.” She proceeded to say that the media “is not reporting it as a national issue, nor is it going further to put it into the context of the policy framework, and what needs to be done, in terms of the rights of women and girls. We don’t get that kind of coverage of reporting, which is more informed and helps us as citizens to be able to get a different kind of perception and conceptual way of dealing with the issue.”

Last year, Genderlinks, conducted a Gender and Media Progress Study for Zimbabwe to monitor how the different media in the country reported on and handled issues of gender. The study also included a detailed analysis of media coverage of gender-based violence in 2010, revealing that the proportion of stories on GBV were only 3% of total stories in the media in Zimbabwe, while the figures for the SADC region were not much better, at 4%. It will be interesting to see what the findings for this year’s study will reveal.

Kubatana subscribers have informed us of some fishy accounting on their bills, where ZESA is over stating the subtotal of a given unit charge multiplied by number of units. For example, on one customer’s bill, the first 50 units is charged at 0.02 cents per unit which equals $1.00. The bill however states $1.20. The next 250 units is charged at 0.11 cents per unit which equals $27.50 – the bill states $28.00.

Together, those two mis-multiplied figures equal 70 cents – not a lot of money, but taken across thousands of customers each month, this could really add up.

Another subscriber reported similar mis-charging on the part of ZESA, with subtotals not adding up to the unit consumption multiplied by consumption rate, and also with the consumption not being charged at the correct rate.

According to the tariff schedule of 1 September, unit charges for domestic metered customers are:

* First 50 kWh: $0.02 per kWh
* 51-300 kWh: $0.11 per kWh
* 301+ kWh: $0.15 per kWh

Be informed. Inspect your ZESA bill carefully, and double check that they are charging you correctly. Query your bill when necessary, and insist on regular meter readings.

Today’s Newsday reports the story of a 20 year old teacher, Fanuel Dube, who ‘proposed love’ to his fifteen year old pupil and impregnated her.

The reporter writes:

In his defence, Dube claimed that though he knew the girl was still doing primary level of education, he believed she was grown up due to her big frame and big breasts.

Judging from the sentence for what is statutory rape, Filabusi magistrate Shillah Nazombe, must have been sympathetic to the poor man’s plight. After all, it must take superhuman strength to resist the pert breasts and firm buttocks of an underage girl. The man was given a 20 month sentence, 6 months of which were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour, and the remaining 14 months were commuted to 490 hours of community service where no doubt there will be other mature looking underage girls.

Fanuel Dube’s case is not unique. Several studies and reports conducted by the Girl Child Network, USAID and other organisations observe that sexual exploitation of girls aged between 9 and 16 is rife in the education sector. The studies found that the perpetrators were most often young male teachers aged below thirty with less than five years of teaching experience.

‘Arepa ngachekwe! (Rapists must be castrated!)’

Hundreds of women marched from Harare Town House to the Gardens on Friday, chanting, demanding that various authorities put a stop to the sexual violence perpetrated against women and children.

During the proceedings at Harare Gardens a representative from the Family Support Trust noted that girls were being pressured into not reporting by their women family members. She related the story of a little girl who was raped by her father. She reported the incident to her mother and was taken to a police station to file charges. Unfortunately, the girl’s tete’s (paternal aunts) pressured the girl to recant her story, saying that they would have no one to provide for them, and that it was not part of Zimbabwean culture. The girl recanted her story and still lives with her father.

In another message, a ZINATHA representative stated that members of ZINATHA did not condone sexual violence against women and children, and that this was in fact contrary to Zimbabwean traditions and culture. He also demanded that those traditional healers who prescribed forced sex with children also be prosecuted along with the perpetrator.

Director of Katstwe Sistahood, Talent Jumo noted the alarming rise in rape cases over the past year. She said that it was up to women to protect themselves, their children and each other from sexual predators. Jumo also urged women to report the incidents as soon as they occurred.

We asked several women what they hoped the march would achieve. Here are some of their responses:

Ini ndinofunga kuti march iyi ichachinja unhu wevanhu muno muZimbabwe. Ivo vanoda kurepa, kana vanorepa vakadzi vavo, vachivamanikidza kurara navo ivo vasingade. Kunyanaya kuvarume uku vachatitarisawao sevanhu, hatisi mhuka kana kuti chii. Takangofanana navo. (I hope this march will help to change to attitudes of men who go out and rape, or men who force their wives into having sex. I hope men will begin to see women as people, we are not just animals that they can use for sex.) Listen

Ita zvhinu zvinhu zvino enderana nemunwe wako waunenge uchidanana naye. Kana ndichinzwa kudawo ini zvinongo nakidzawo, asi ukaita zvekundi manikida, hapana zvinondi nakidza. Ava vano repa vana vadiki: tsvaka musikana. Vakazara kumabhwa varikutsvaka vanovanyenga asi havaendeko, worepa mwana mudiki. Urikudestroya life yemwana iyeye. Ngavaite kufunga kuti dai ndirini, kana mwana wangu ndinonzwa sei? ((To men) you must aim to please you partner. If she also wants to have sex then everything is fine and you will both enjoy it, but if you force her, there’s nothing for her to enjoy As for you men who rape children, there are lots of women looking for men at bars, but you don’t want that you want to rape young children. You are destroying their lives. You must ask your selves how you would feel if it was you or your child that was being raped.) Listen

Kazhinji kacho, nyaya iyi irikuti shungurudza, vana vari kurepwa vari vana vadiki. Kouya kumapurisa, vanoda chioko muhomwe, kuzvipatara, varikuti shaudha. Ma PEP (Post exposure prophylaxis) anodawo chioko muhomwe iwe usina. Saka zvinhu zviri kuti shungurudza. (This is causing us unrest. Children are being raped while they are still very young. When you got to the police they want a bribe, at the hospitals they shout at you (for being raped). Post exposure prohylaxis is only available when you bribe someone, and we have no money. These are the things we are marching about.) Listen

In picture: Maxx Moses with local artist Enock aka “Just Kause” in Makokoba, Bulawayo on Monday.

Bulawayo, November 29, 2011: Graffiti artist, Maxx Moses, arrived in Bulawayo on Sunday as part of a U.S. Embassy program to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS through street art.  Moses, who calls himself a “concrete alchemist,” will spend a week in Zimbabwe’s second largest city working with local artists to create two murals on the sides of major buildings.

“I am excited to be here. Our job as artists is to make people think deeper, feel deeper,” says New York-based Moses, who goes by the tag Pose2.  Moses’ artwork has been described by renowned art critic Alexander Salazar as promoting “an environment of longevity, growth, wholeness, and spiritual well-being.” Moses fuses ‘wild style’ and fine art in his work.  He is a well-known innovator in the graffiti and street art industry in the United States, whose work suits virtually any surface, flat or 3D, of any size.

The visiting artist and his team of local artists begins spray-painting the walls of Madlodlo Bar in Makokoba and part of the exterior of the National Gallery in Bulawayo today. The murals will be unveiled at a ceremony on December 1st at 2:30 pm featuring Ambassador Charles Ray, Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Amen Mpofu, and City Council officials.  The sites will also host mobile testing units for the public.

“Worldwide, AIDS activists are focused on creating an AIDS-free generation. In order to do this, we need to use every possible tool to get prevention messages across to young and old alike. Maxx’s work is the perfect medium to do this – it’s innovative, engaging, and certainly eye-catching,” says Michael Brooke, Public Diplomacy Officer at the U.S. Embassy.

Since 2000, the United States government has invested over $245 million in Zimbabwe’s fight against HIV/AIDS.  In 2012, the U.S. will contribute an estimated $60 million to the national HIV/AIDS response in Zimbabwe through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including support for treatment of 80,000 people and interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV for approximately 40,000 women living with HIV/AIDS.

Issued by the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section.