The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
THE Covid-19 is disproportionately affecting communities in Zimbabwe with women and girls suffering the most as they have pre-existing vulnerabilities that have been there before the pandemic.
Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Dr Sithembiso Nyoni said this was making the pandemic more devastating to women.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that it is affecting everyone, everywhere, but the effects are not equal. It is not a secret that the pandemic is deepening existing inequalities and vulnerabilities, particularly for women and girls. Existing gender and other inequalities have been exacerbated with girls and young women facing increased threats of gender-based violence, discrimination and abuse as protective structures are disrupted and economic stresses increase,” she said.
Dr Nyoni said women and girls were facing a unique set of challenges which include access to sexual, reproductive health rights services and domestic violence, while men and boys also face challenges of limited financial capacities to fend for families.
“As we talk of rights and choices regarding reproductive health, it is disturbing to note that we still have pockets of our communities that are denying these rights to women and girls. My Ministry has been alerted of a very disheartening report taking its rounds on the social media of a 14-year-old girl who died while giving birth at a shrine in Bocha, Mutare District, in Manicaland. I would like to inform the nation that we are working with all relevant authorities and stakeholders in investigating this case which is said to have happened in Bocha,” she added.
Dr Nyoni however, said the case was a reminder on the scourge of teenage pregnancies and child marriage that continue to affect the lives of thousands of girls in communities.
“Child marriage is a violation of multiple rights of the girl child that include, denying her the right to education, right to health and well-being. It exposes the girl child to Gender Based Violence, HIV and other health related conditions.
“It puts the young mother and her child into a cycle of poverty. Marrying off our girls before attaining age of marriage also denies the communities where they live and the nation at large of their contribution to national development. It is for these and various other reasons that we should join hands to vehemently condemn and declare our aspiration for a nation with zero tolerance to child marriage,” she said.
Dr Nyoni said GBV is one of the key challenges the country has been grappling with, even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and constitutes a serious violation of human rights and a major obstacle to the social and economic development of communities.
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