Politically Motivated Rape in Zimbabwe
The Women’s Programme of the Research and Advocacy Unit recently produced a report on politically motivated Rape in Zimbabwe. In the report Zimbabwe is described as undergoing a ‘complex emergency’ that is a social catastrophe marked by the destruction of the affected populations political, economic, socio-cultural and healthcare infrastructure. It notes with concern the increasing use of rape in war and complex emergencies. Despite several United Nations resolutions being passed since 2000, only a small number of perpetrators of sexual violence against women have been convicted and jailed by international criminal tribunals for committing or commanding widespread sexual violence as a war crime.
The report notes that:
The phenomenon of violations against women is not a new thing in Zimbabwean politics; it has been reported in the majority of human rights reports produced both locally and internationally since 2000 when the political landscape changed with the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) posing a serious threat to the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF)s power-base in the June 2000 parliamentary elections. Before 2000 there were reports of rape particularly during the Liberation War and the Matabeleland massacres of the 1980s.
This report draws on several other reports by organisations such as the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum, The Zimbabwe Peace Project, and Amani Trust, and points out the difficulty of inferring the national prevalence of politically motivated rape.
RAU conducted its most recent research study in 2010 in collaboration with Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights, using 27 sworn legal affidavits and medical examinations of women who were raped because of their political activity or the political activity of their husbands. Rapes were reported as occurring in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2008. While the highest prevalence of 89% was in 2008, the report states that there is no suggestion that rape was actually more common in 2008 than in any other year. The report states that the sexual assaults reported were extremely distressing, with horrific accounts of gang rape.
The RAU/ ZDHR study included the following recommendations:
A multi-sectoral investigation into politically motivated rape, led by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, together with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, should be undertaken on a large scale countrywide;
In light of the fact that elections are likely to be held in 2011, the government of Zimbabwe should ensure that women are protected from politically motivated rape, before, during, and after the election period.