When will men stand up for women?

14th May 2009.

Last night my wife - Arthie, and I attended the launch of a film by RAU*, called, “Hear us!”, it revealed the story of 4 Zimbabwean woman who were violently abused and raped, by Zanu PF youth during the Presidential election - in 2008. I was sickened by what I saw and heard.

An article, by Owen Chikari, in The Zimbabwe Times, this very morning, confirms their stories:-

“MASVINGO - The commander of a Zanu-PF youth base in the run up to the June 27 (2008) presidential election was jailed for 20 years on Friday after he was convicted of raping the wife of an MDC activist.

Kufa Ringeringe of Bota Village in Zaka pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape but was convicted on both charges by Masvingo regional magistrate, Esther Muremba, who deplored the rape of defenceless women under the guise of campaigning for President Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe was the Zanu-F candidate in the controversial and violence-ridden second presidential election in June.

The court heard that sometime during that election campaign Ringeringe, who was the leader of a number of Zanu-PF youths camped in Bota Village to spearhead the Mugabe campaign, visited his victim’s homestead in the company of a group of youths.

On arrival they discovered that the woman’s husband, a well known MDC activist in the area, had fled from political violence. Ringeringe and the youths then abducted and took the woman to their base, which was situated at a nearby primary school. The youths threatened to beat up the woman unless she revealed the whereabouts of her husband.

As they threatened her the youths fondled the woman’s breasts while touching her private parts. The court was told that Ringeringe then intervened and offered to help the complainant, saying he was the only one with authority to order his colleagues to stop harassing her.

He then took the complainant to a secluded place where he raped her twice before he ordered her to return home.”

How dare politicians teach these behaviours to young men. What future lies ahead for the World if this is what is expected of our future leaders. It is time to take action, to punish the leaders and perpetrators and to transform the way men see women.

It is also deeply disturbing to realise that these events were happening just across our northern borders. And our South Africa leaders, speak of “quiet diplomacy”, and accept the outcome of the Zimbabwean elections, as free and fair. And when the opposition actually wins, our “mediator” ensures that the losers - Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs - retain power. Where is our integrity and care for the people of Zimbabwe?

We watched and heard last night, from strong ordinary women, of their fight against this tyrannical terrorism. They have stood up to it for a long time. Many of them have been attacked and beaten for their courage.

When I looked around the room, I was astounded to note that the members of the audience, were mainly females - with only a sprinkling of men, in the back of the room. Where were their sons, husbands and fathers? Where were the men who lead this country, in business and government?

Have we men forgotten that we have a responsibility to protect and care for the women in our lives, and the women of the world? Perhaps many of us are not aware, of the sickening events in countries, like Zimbabwe. Yet, is it possible, that we simply do not know how of the daily attacks on women, in our own country.

Is it possible that we do not know of the arrogant stance taken by young men towards young girls? Or, of the way in which many of our leaders view and treat womenkind? I think not.

How many of us are closely related to a woman, who has been abused, raped or attacked by a sick man, or men? Often we have been powerless to do anything about it.

Women have stood up, alone, against this violent tyranny for too long. They share their horrors amongst themselves, because the system does not respect them. They become the “accused”, when in many cases they are the victims. You will remember a recent high profile case - in South Africa - where the victim was under extreme pressure from family, the public and baying crowds. Her courage - in speaking out was vilified!

Women are not political tools and helpless toys, to be used and abused by men, be they politicians, husbands, sons or fathers. They are our own mothers, sisters and wives.

My question is simple, “When will we men stand up, be counted and take action to protect the basic rights of women?”

When will we bring our support to their organizations? When will we work to change the law, the manner in which the law is applied and when will we actively work to change our behavior and that of our sons?”

I am starting a group on FaceBook - to get some common understanding and direction, and would be delighted to meet other men and women - who understand the pain that their own family members have experienced, or who are those who are simply emotionally intelligent enough to know that this cannot carry on. We are the generation that will begin the process of stopping abuse against women.

I am looking for people that can and will, make a difference. I am looking for people who understand their errors, and the errors of the past. I am looking for high profile support. We need to take action now, and work with the existing “womens’ organizations. And if necessary start our own action groups.

Brian V Moore
082 554 2188
brian@africa-dreams.com

* RAU - From - http://hub.witness.org/en/ViolenceAgainstWomenInZimbabwe

“In Zimbabwe's March 2008 elections, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won 47% of the votes and sitting president Robert Mugabe won 42%. To decide the dispute, a run-off presidential election was scheduled for June. However, in the weeks that followed, brutal violence targeted members and supporters of the opposition and - in an effort to stop the violence - Tsvangirai decided to pull out of the race. NGOs in Zimbabwe reported that the political instability in this period resulted in at least 100 deaths and thousands of cases of torture, rape, and abuse. The crisis also caused a collapse of the country's public services, which led to a still ongoing cholera outbreak that has already claimed over 4000 lives.

WITNESS partner Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) spent months documenting politically motivated violence in Zimbabwe with a special focus on how this violence affected women across the country. In a groundbreaking report released today (March 20, 2009) RAU notes that "violence denies women their most basic human rights and unless the government's legal and security departments are revamped and the culture of aggression and impunity is done away with, women will continue to be susceptible to violence inside and outside their home."

Despite existing legal mechanisms to prosecute the perpertrators, most have not been held accountable for their crimes and there has been little support for the survivors. RAU's report is groundbreaking in part because it was written by Zimbabwean women working inside Zimbabwe - no small feat considering the circumstances.”