By Panashe Chikonyora & Sarah Njanji
As part of their initiative in joining the country and the world at large in commemorating the 16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV), the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and Epworth Pastors held a Church service at Methodist church at Epworth primary school last Friday 3 December.
According to Sarah Njanji, Epworth citizen journalist, GBV in Epworth is rising everyday.
”Everyday here in Epworth especially this month due to Christmas bonus there is a lot of domestic violence. On Friday ZRP and Epworth Pastors held a Church service to address the issue of GBV at Methodist church at Epworth primary school,” reported Njanji.
Gender based violence is a human right violation which can take physical, emotional, psychological, verbal or sexual forms to women, children or men.
Therefore, gender-based violence refers to the violence inflicted on a person (adult or child) due to stereotypes and roles attributed to or expected of them according to their sex or gender identity. Usually gender is seen as something than commonly affect women and young girls, although men at times can fall prey in the hands of abusive women.
Gender based violence cases have been seen rising on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic’s national induced lockdowns. In Zimbabwe, for instance, child marriages and domestic and sexual violence cases exacerbated particularly under lockdowns, with most of the cases being observed to be rampant in the country’s rural and marginalized communities.
The pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women and girls’ socio-economic welfare is threatening to reverse the hard-won gains in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.
