The Sunday News
Chido Manzini
THE involvement of women in the liberation struggle of Zimbabwe was far from a cry to emancipate the nation but also a symbol of emancipating women from the shackles of cultural barriers and norms which had been set by society prior to colonisation.
Such initiatives have given impetus for women to create their post-independence identity in the political, economic and social spheres, as they disrupt the traditional barriers which had been predominantly set for their male counterparts to surpass them.
The previous article looked at the pivotal role women played in the liberation struggle and in this edition an exploration of the evolvement of women’s identity post conflict from 1980 to present day is made. In that context women’s identity refers to the position, character, value and respect which women have set that distinguishes them from their male counterparts in societies.
It is only prudent to mention that when looking at the identity of women in the Zimbabwean context there is need to give it a holistic approach so as to see their evolvement in the three dimensions and fully conceptualise the level of growth post-independence.
The government of Zimbabwe over the years has been committed to changing the narrative of women post-independence through various legislation and initiatives which have served to positively give women the support they need to navigate various platforms. It is incontestable that women have faced a plethora of trajectories as they were previously considered a part of the minority groups. As noted by Betezat and Mwalo (1989) women were for the first time in history identified as oppressed groups after independence and therefore the government endeavoured to change the situation by crafting and implementing policies which would ensure the elimination of such disparities.
Therefore, bringing about equal opportunities and alignment of women into the patriarchal society has been the plight of the government.
One would start by looking at the political growth of women as a catalyst in their attainment of freedom. Zimbabwean women post-independence aggressively infiltrated the political field taking a number of positions in government.
The quota system introduced by the Government has seen present day women occupying 31% of the seats in parliament and therefore having a say, although limited in the passing of legislation.
It should be noted that compared to Rwanda (61%) and South Africa (46,3%), Tanzania (36,9%) Zimbabwe’s female representation in parliament is still lagging behind due to a number of social challenges they face when they attempt to infiltrate the political scene.
Women to date face male stereotyping and lack of support from not only their male counterparts who are dominating in these platforms but also from unliberated female counterparts who still hold the skewed traditional norms and cultural beliefs that relegate them to the kitchen.
Mungwini (2017) postulates that change in the role of women should be accompanied by access to political resources for equality to be recognised.
Consequently, there should be a deliberate effort by Government to encourage women to participate in politics through magnifying the importance of gender equality to bring about a paradigm shift in mentality embedded by the cultural norms.
A conducive environment has to be cultivated so that women assume their rightful position as equal to their male counterparts at strategic positions. Thus, women need to shatter the glass box of political discrimination and be liberated in the true sense and not only be liberated from the colonialists.
In spite of the challenges faced in the political identity of women, there has been notable rise of women to power.
The Zimbabwe government has made efforts to follow the United Nations Sustainable goal number five which states that there should be women’s political empowerment and equal access to leadership positions at all levels.
Notable breakthroughs are seen in Cde Oppah Muchinguri Kashiri who is the first female Minister of Defence. Dr Thokozani Khupe also became very famous during the Global National Unity (GNU), when she became the Deputy Prime Minister (2009-2013) seconded by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), (Manyeruke et al, 2018).
Notably limited growth in women’s representation in politics could be as a result of fear of victimisation from the society as women tend to be scrutinised when they venture into politics in Zimbabwe.
Still pursuing women empowerment, the Government of Zimbabwe created the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, (now known as Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises) as a platform to advance the interests of women and the girl child. However, funding challenges limit the extent to which the ministry can offer support to ensure women development.
Looking at the evolvement of women’s economic identity, the passing of the legislative pieces such as the Equal Pay Regulation of (1980) saw women attaining economic freedom as they were now rewarded equivalent to their male counterparts which was not the norm before independence.
This therefore meant women could also excel in the workplace as the Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) gave women the instrument to pierce the glass ceiling. The Labour Act has been a key weapon in the emancipation and protection of women rights in the workplace as it has ensured the transparency of recruitment and development of women in the work context against discrimination.
Dwelling on the economic sphere prior to independence women were significantly affected when it came to inheritance as they had no entitlement once their spouse or father died as it was only subject to the male child or relatives of the deceased.
Therefore, through the Government, the enactment of the Legal Age Majority Act in 1982 saw an effort being put in place to give daughters the capacity to inherit their father’s estates and women to qualify as guardians and administer their deceased spouse’s estates.
Women’s identity has evolved post-independence with the Government giving impetus to the importance of educating the girl child.
Zimbabwe has seen women rising to positions which were male dominant such as the late Prof Primrose Kurasha who become the first female Vice Chancellor of a Zimbabwean university breaking the norm of having male vice chancellors only.
This paved way for other female Vice Chancellors such as Prof Hope Sadza and Acting Vice Chancellor for Gwanda State University Dr Nomathemba Ndiweni rising to the position. Such women stand to show how legislation set by the Government have enabled women to also contribute productively towards the economy through spearheading educational institutions.
It is disheartening to note that in terms of social identity there have been a number of challenges affecting women ranging from domestic violence, child marriages and poverty which is the catalyst to all the misfortunes faced by women in Zimbabwe.
Therefore, there is a direct relationship between poverty and the level of social identity that women get within a society as it opens either positive or negative outcomes on the lives of these women. It should be noted that 57% of the women are employed or self-employed in the informal sector running their small to medium enterprises and access of loans can be difficult as some run unregistered businesses such as vendors. This therefore means that they are unable to grow their businesses as some institutions would require that they have collateral in order to get funding. High inflation which has resulted in unfathomed high cost of living has resulted in a setback among self-employed mothers and caregivers.
Cases of domestic violence and child marriages have emerged over the years due to the economic dependency women have to men who are abusive, therefore foregoing their social and human rights. Despite legislation being passed on the Legal Minimum Age of Marriage some families due to poverty have been engaged in such practices so as to avert poverty. Government in its efforts has put in place the Domestic Violence Act (Chapter 5;16) but the truth of the matter is that there are still women who succumb to violence each and every day due to the financial dependency they have to their husbands. This therefore leads to women not reporting cases and over and above that the traditional setup also forces women to stay in abusive marriages in the name of submissiveness. Change in the social identity of women in Zimbabwe has come a long way and still has more strides to take as the grassroots need to be shaken out of the archaic way of thinking and embrace that empowerment of women as the way to go in turning around the narrative of poverty.
Despite several legal reforms being instituted to challenge the status quo in order to empower women in Zimbabwe, patriarchal values have not died but have continued to simmer under the surface waiting for an opportunity to re-emerge (Mungwini, 2007). It is therefore, imperative that women continue to break the barriers which were set and create the new normal where the identity of the girl child is not questioned as it will be represented in all spheres of society and the nation at large.
The author is a Social Analyst and Lecturer at Midlands State University and can be contacted on [email protected]/[email protected]
