Domestic violence among married women of reproductive age in. Domestic violence also named domestic abuse or family violence is violence or other abuse in a domestic setting, such as in marriage or cohabitation. Domestic violence has continued to be a global epidemic that kills and tortures physically, psychologically, sexually and economically. Domestic violence may be used as a synonym for intimate partner violence, which is committed by a spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner, and can take place in heterosexual or samesex relationships. Zimbabwe country effective law and policy case study on. Zimbabwe today is an independent online newspaper that showcases all the news from zimbabwe by zimbabweans for zimbabweans across the world. The violence experienced by zimbabwean women, like that experienced elsewhere, assumes a variety of forms which include, among others, wife battering, economic, and emotional violence, all of which fall within the scope of domestic violence as. The draft domestic violence bill 2003 seeks to address domestic violence in a zimbabwean context and outlines the duties of the police officer, protection order, domestic violence counselors and committee and the definitions of terms relating to. Chapter 6 violence against women introduction violence against women is defined as any act of genderbased violence that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of acts such as coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private.
It has been termed a period of great risk to healthy development takanishi, 1993, p. This was a pilot case study, the first of three country studies, and lessons. Domestic violence is defined by domestic violence act zimbabwe chapter 5. To make provision for the protection and relief of victims of domestic violence and to provide for matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing. This publication was prepared by madison mellish, susan settergren, and henry sapuwa of the health policy project. Zimbabwe national gender based violence strategy 20122015. The psychosocial drivers of gender based violence in. Elsabe nelle, subject librarian religious studies for assisting me to. Examining the effectiveness of the domestic violence act in.
Theories that appear in the african literature of domestic violence excerpted wrom. It also concentrates largely on male to female violence, consonant with the evidence concerning predominant abuse trends. Gqola 2004 discloses the politicolegal disharmony which characterized. Zimbabwe is currently observing the 16 days of activism against genderbased violence with the rest of the world which ends on december 10 amidst calls for solutions to end domestic and gender. Zimbabwe enacted the domestic violence act chapter 5. In the spirit of building a new zimbabwe, we promote and support free speech, hence all the news you will read at zimbabwe today is uncensored, unbiased and. The domestic violence act of zimbabwe was enacted in response to an escalation in cases of domestic violence. Borg, the literature in any field forms the foundation upon which all future work will be built. In zimbabwe, as well as in most societies, rape and domestic abuse are clear illustrations of some of the. Using household survey to measure gender based violence is a process that is taxing due to the sensitive nature of the survey other forms of violence, e. One of the major challenges is to end impunity for perpetrators. Petina gappahs top 10 books about zimbabwe books the. As this digest demonstrates, domestic violence is a health, legal, economic, educational, developmental and, above all, a human.
Despite the promise of such acts, the results lag behind any measure of satisfactory as the implementation has been greatly shaky and half hearted. Pdf violence against women in zimbabwe farai mushangwe. Shocking statistics on genderbased violence newsday zimbabwe. Doctor of literature and philosophy in the subject.
If we want to do some new work in a subject, it is very necessary that we should know the past of that. An update from zimbabwe womens resource centre network on the draft domestic violence bill 2003. Pdf this paper is a philosophical study on ideology and its indispensable relationship. Original research article gender based violence and its. The study also acknowledges that victims of domestic violence range from the tender age of sixteen which is the legal age for marriage for women, according to the constitution of zimbabwe to elderly spouses who are not spared by this scourge. The domestic violence act dva of 1998 and the sexual offences bill of 2006 are viewed by the south african law commission 2000, as sited. In many parts of the world parents encourage the marriage of their daughters while they are still children in hopes that the marriage will benefit them both financially and socially, while also. Enacted by the president and the parliament of zimbabwe. This study examined the extent of effectiveness of the dva as a tool to fight gender based domestic violence.
In the last two decades, there has been growing recognition of the prevalence of domestic violence in our societies. Jsi is a research and consulting organization dedicated to promoting and improving the health and wellbeing of underserved and vulnerable people and communities. One such instance has been the crafting of the zimbabwe domestic violence act dva of 2007. This paper seeks to identify factors that militate against the utilisation of provisions of the act by victims of domestic violence. This innocenti digest looks specifically at domestic violence. The following brochures are available as pdf documents. Promoting gender equality to prevent violence against women. Legislators placed particular obligations in the dva upon the police, obliging them to help the abused woman. Conceptualisation of gender based violence in zimbabwe. The government uses its legislative discretion under the domestic violence act, to expand the membership of the anti domestic violence. The extent of domestic violence in northern ireland the most comprehensive statistics on domestic violence were published in the northern ireland crime survey a. Domestic violence is a problem of epidemic proportions with farreaching consequences for individual victims, their children and their communities. Part i preliminary 1 short title and date of commencement 1 this act may be cited as the domestic violence act chapter 5.
Ely the university of tennessee at chattenooga, chattanooga, tennessee, usa catherine n. Key informant discussions with nongovernmental organisations ngo representatives highlighted the need for programme synergies so that genderbased. Zimbabwe 1996 midlands province 966 i 518 17d latin america and the caribbean. Incidence of sexual and genderbased violence in zimbabwe. By freeman razemba and tanaka vunganai domestic violence cases increased by 20 percent last year in harare as compared to 2015, as police officers have been urged to continue sharpening their crime prevention strategies in order to safeguard life and property and reduce fear of crime in the province. A study of women aged 18 and over in one province in zimbabwe found that 26 per cent of married women. Violence against women in south africa a country in crisis 5 executive summary i n south africa, a country scarred by the history of apartheid, violence against women vaw is endemic. Individual psychological explanations of battering are relatively common in the united states literature, especially in the literature produced by. The violence against women in zimbabwe continue despite legislation because of various factors some can be be traced even during the liberation struggle.
In zimbabwe several statutory provisions exist to bring justice to genderbased. According to unorthodox reports, 1 in 3 women in zimbabwe are in an abusive marriage and over 60 percent of murder cases in the country are linked to domestic violence. Nature and scope of gender based violence in zimbabwe gender based violence encompasses a wide range of abuses that range from sexual threats, exploitation, humiliation, assaults, molestation, domestic violence, incest, involuntary prostitution, torture, insertion of objects into genital openings to attempted rape. Without knowing the past we can not do something new in the field of research. Domestic violence international journal of research in humanities. This study revealed that domestic violence is highly prevalent in glen norah. The domestic violence act includes protection from cultural or customary practices such as forced virginity testing, female genital mutilation, and forced marriages zimbabwe 2006, art.
Especially at a time in which the values of reading and inwardness are so strenuously challenged, reading is freedom. Studies of the survivors of the liberation war consistently showed large. Domestic violence in zimbabwe is increasing annually despite the fact that domestic violence act chapter 5. A case study of glen norah harare a read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Help us save lives by making yourself aware of the risks and warning signs. Offences act of 2002, later repealed in 2006 by the criminal law and codification. Its application stretches across familial and domestic relationships, covering those that are heterosexual and of the same sex.
Promoting gender equality to prevent violence against women series of briefings on violence prevention this briefing for advocates, programme designers and implementers and others is one of a sevenpart series on the evidence for interventions to prevent interpersonal and selfdirected violence. Adolescence has often been construed as a difficult period in life, consisting of storm and. The domestic violence act, 1998 act 116 of 1998 was enacted with the main purpose to afford the victims of domestic violence maximum protection from domestic abuse that the law can provide. Information has been grouped into the following topics.
Zimbabwean domestic violence act by excellent chireshe. Tipwigyoksttzrclbdxrqbgjsnbohm of domestic violence in the african context, 11 american university journal of gender, social policy and the law 847863 2003 73 footnotes omitted. Introduction thoughts or discussions on african culture conjure up horror stories female genital mutilation, fgm, wife inheritance, homicide brides and early marriages. This virtual archive is devoted in trying to demystify ways of thinking about the democratic rhetoric of independent zimbabwe. Domestic violence is on the increase in zimbabwe with police records showing that some 40,500 cases were reported between january and september this year alone. Determinants of intimate partner violence in subsaharan. While studies covering domestic violence against women by men are vast in zimbabwe and other parts of the world wildaf 1995. After an introduction of the topic, a thorough critique of chosen literature on domestic violence will be drafted. Zimbabwe ratified the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination. In spite of the enactment of the act, domestic violence continues and there is limited utilisation of the provisions of the law. Original research article gender based violence and its effects on womens reproductive health. Exhaustion of the topic will lead to the presentation of a conclusive summary about the same followed by a list of the bibliography cited in the essay. The zimbabwe situation the inclusion of the domestic violence module in the 2007 zimbabwe demographic health survey zdhs was in recognition of the presence of gender based violence.
Violence council under the domestic violence act, and the gbv national. Oct 14, 2015 petina gappahs top 10 books about zimbabwe. For example, during 2010 the government ran a public awareness campaign about the domestic violence act and several womens rights groups worked with law enforcement officials to provide training and literature on domestic violence. The information provided in this document is not official u. Introduction marriage before the age of 18 is a reality for many young women. Statistics on femicide, rape and domestic violence demonstrate unprecedented prevalence. A reflection on the domestic violence act chapter 5. Violence council under the domestic violence act, and the gbv national coordination group gbvncg established under the humanitarian cluster system in zimbabwe. Sources indicate that domestic violence is a crime that can be punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years wlsa may 2015. This literature survey synthesises material from the reports listed in the annotated bibliography on genderbased violence in the pacific. In zimbabwe, the face of cultural relativism on domestic violence is a former member of the house of assembly who boldly stated in parliament that, i stand here representing god, the almighty. So far, only 44 countries approximately have adopted specific legislation to address domestic violence.
Introduction intimate partner violence ipv refers to violence between two people involved in an intimate relationship, and it exists in all countries, cultures and societies ellsberg et al. At add international we believe the strength of an organisation lies in part in its ability to learn from its experience and to feed this learning into improved practice. In the zimbabwean setting, domestic violence has been defined as any act or omission or commission or behavior of a respondent in case it harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life or wellbeing, whether mental or. Domestic violence crosses all barriers of age and gender and results in serious illness and even death. Theories of domestic violence that are current in the united statestheories based on the individual psychology or psychopathology of the battererdo not appear in the african literature at all. In addition to typical physical, emotional and verbal assault associated with domestic violence in the united states, unique types of international violence against women and female children also include. Some factors related to domestic violence surface in specific cultures.