By Alois Vinga
BUDIRIRO North legislator, Susan Matsunga says the fight against sexual harassment must begin at the Parliament of Zimbabwe itself, where female legislators are suffering in silence.
She made the remarks during a civil society organised stakeholder engagement on Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Harare this week.
The legislator said advocating for an end to GBV requires going beyond the dedicated 16 days of activism held once annually, to a more aggressive all-year-round campaign.
“While society looks up to us to represent them in Parly, we are also victims of sexual harassment. Each time you try to move a motion you hear these male MPs shouting obscene words at you and even labelling you as a woman of loose morals.
“These male-dominated fields are not a walk in the park if you are to rise to the top. For every aspiration a female politician places on the table, men in leadership positions expect us to open our legs. We also need representation and programmes targeting women in politics,” she said.
Matsunga said it was time civil society and other stakeholders gathered tangible statistics on the prevalence of GBV in all its forms and kinds for easy tracking of where the country stands on the matter.
She said every woman deserves protection despite social standing and called for the cascading of the Constitution to outlying areas for knowledge empowerment purposes.
“As women it is also time we lobbied for stiffer penalties, even life sentences, for rape offences as this will totally disenfranchise GBV perpetrators from interacting with the society. GBV is damaging and leaves indelible marks,” she said.
In Zimbabwe, GBV is a significant concern, with a substantial number of women experiencing physical and sexual violence. Approximately 39.4% of women have been subjected to physical violence, and an estimated 11.6% have faced sexual violence.