“From my discussions with different Zimbabwean women, I have come to realise that many are struggling to find their space within society and to give voice to their many concerns,” observed Fungai Machirori the Founder and Managing Editor of the women’s web portal. “In my view, these challenges have come about because Zimbabwean women have struggled to strike a balance between articulating and celebrating their individualism, while still retaining their collective cultural and social identities.”

herzimbabwe is … a space where, hopefully, women will be able to see their lives and stories  reflected through those of other women. The portal will feature personal perspectives, historical information, arts, lifestyle and health features, as well as a section dedicated to male views and experiences. The herzimbabwe project will also actively engage Zimbabwean women in the Diaspora who have often been marginalised from mainstream Zimbabwean discourse due to their physical distance from issues.

For more information about HerZimbabwe email info[at]herzimbabwe[dot]co[dot]zw

Walking through town the other day, a friend and I thought twice before taking the road that goes in back of State House. You know the one – up past the Harare Sports Club and Royal Harare Golf Club on the one side, and past the camouflage-wearing, gun-toting, State House-guarding soldiers on the other. We didn’t have ID on us, and the stories of people getting harassed on that road by officious guards are countless.

But we took a deep breath, and in the interest of claiming our freedom and refusing to bow to intimidation or self-censorship we carried on.

We were nearly out of the woods when a soldier – yes complete with camouflage, helmet,  and bayonet readied gun, called to us across the road -

Armed soldier in camouflage: Hello.
Me: Hello.
Armed soldier in camouflage: How is the morning?
Me: Good thanks, how’s yours?
Armed soldier in camouflage: How is the day?
Me: Good thanks, how’s yours?
Armed soldier in camouflage: Can I have your number?
Me: [Silence]
Armed soldier in camouflage: I need to phone you.
Me: [Turns to face him with a puzzled expression]
Armed soldier in camouflage: Bahahahaha [Packs out laughing like he’s just told the best joke ever.]

Harassment, yes. But not quite the kind of harassment I’d been worried about.

Sheltered beneath cool thatch
surrounded by green lawns and fig trees

a circle of Zimbabwean women sit passing a stone
sewing beads onto a red velvet cloth as each one spoke

women’s work

they cross three generations
mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, grandmothers
facilitators, lawyers, counselors, activists

What is it, we asked, that we celebrate about being women?
‘Our ability to love,
to take responsibility for our children, our families
to take responsibility for the food, and the schooling
our ability to hold serious jobs
to talk about our feelings
to share the load’

And what is difficult about being  women here, at this time?

‘Being disrespected
often abused,
by the men with whom we live
sexual harassment
political rape and violence’

It was a story of attrition and overwhelming responsibility

One of the elders spoke
of the infidelities of her husband
of the pain it had cause her young soul
as she watched over her small children

and of the growing strength of realization
that she was the one

she would not seek what was impossible
she would take the responsibility
and do the work
and love her children
because she had the courage and strength to do it

of the power and satisfaction her life had brought her
of the wonderful children she had grown into the world
of the circles of women she shared her life with

They spoke of strong, enduring, loving mothers
of the father who had supported one young woman’s journey
allowed her the freedom to make her own choices
of her gratitude for this trust in her abilities

They spoke of the ‘enemy within’
their own jealousies
of women’s part in infidelities
the insecurity they carried

And then they looked at what they could change
and of holding circles with men

It is the first conversation of many, many conversations

everything changes

Malawi: After Attacks, President Says Women Have Right to Choose Clothing
A spate of recent attacks on women wearing pants and miniskirts prompted President Bingu wa Mutharika to declare Thursday that women had the right to choose their dress. He also denied that he had ordered street children and vendors to attack women, who have been stripped of their pants and short skirts. “Every woman and girl has the right to dress the way they wish,” he said on national television. Women were banned from wearing pants during decades of dictatorship, but indecency laws prohibiting them were repealed in 1994.
Source: New York Times

From the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association:

Residents dismayed by conduct of Mpilo authorities
Bulawayo residents have bemoaned the negligence of personnel at Mpilo Referral Hospital after reports that women who deliver at the institution are detained until they pay a minimum of $60 without access to bedding and food. To ensure that the women pay their balances, the hospital’s authorities confiscate their identity documents and withhold the new born babies’ birth records. It is alleged that those that fail to pay their medical fees immediately after giving birth are moved to another ward where they sleep on the floor and are not served the hospital food during meal time. This goes on amid the general decline of standards of government hospitals. Despite denial by the hospital authorities that this is taking place, BPRA has it on good authority that the hospital has resorted to these extreme measures as a way of ensuring that all patients pay fully for services rendered to them. Bulawayo residents have said they view this as a gross violation of women’s rights. They said women that deliver at government hospitals should be treated well even if they have not paid their dues. Residents opined that the Ministry of Health should intervene to ensure that hospitals respect the rights of women.