Qu'en penses-tu?

 

On the African continent, in 2021, boys and men firmly believe that their core rights and privileges are under threat of extinction with the dialogue and implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5)- gender equality. Noticeably, there is a visceral reaction to reject, denounce and refuse to participate as a partner in creating space and equality for girls and women. Unfortunately, the perpetuation of this behaviour, normalised as acceptable by culture, is at the expense of 80% of girls and women in Sub-Saharan Africa who live in rural communities. In light of the International Day of Women living in Rural Areas, alongside the International Day of the Girl Child, “My Voice, Our Equal Future” is a rallying cry for us as civil society to step up and do more in practical ways.

The core rights and privileges that define the masculine identity include the abuse and exploitation of women as central tenants. This begs the question- is the problem at hand about power, privilege or both? Also, if it is about privilege, then are men exempt from interacting with empathy towards women when they perceive their actions as their rights and not morally right or wrong?

In accordance with the UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “We the peoples...” have the fundamental right to freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. These four freedoms are the engine driving all 17 SDGs. These can only be achieved when all girls, women, boys and men partner in shaping the future together to achieve the future we want. However, for all the brilliance of this lofty and worthy ambition, there exists a more sinister reality experienced on the ground of day to day life.

With a 90% unemployment rate, a hyper-inflationary environment contributing to food insecurity for nearly 5 million people, and digital access only attainable for 5-10% of the population, in Zimbabwe, the cultural norms of “ lobola” (traditional marriage based on the exchange of cows to gain ownership of a woman as one’s personal property and wife), as well as “chimutsa maphiwa” , or child-marriage, are both alive and well in keeping the girl-child and women living in rural communities - censored and penalised for their gender. The practices involve mothers, guardians and mother-figures grooming girls and young women to marry by the expected age of 12 years old.

To call the systemic abuse, exploitation, trafficking and sabotage to a girl's life and prospects a “marriage” is a misnomer. A girl, 12 years of age in this Decade of Action, will be a woman of 22 if she does not die during her first pregnancy. Married to a man who on average is 50-60 years old, means that mother, at 22 years of age, is more than likely to have no education of her own, therefore no work experience, no connections, and no financial freedom. Regarded as a type of “saviour”, the “mukwasha” (son-in-law) is an emboldened protected perpetrator at the individual, household, community and national level. This thrusts the young woman into a state of total dependency where she is unable to advocate for herself, therefore she remains welded to a perpetrator she was forced to marry and is powerless to leave. To categorise this as a “marriage” is an affront and disservice to the female population suffering the negative, life-long effects.

To “pushback against the pushback”, expressed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres (2020), at the Beijing+25 conference, as my preferred instrument of peace, I use the power of writing and The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Firstly, as a change-maker and vocal advocate for SDG 5, SDG 13 and SDG 17, it is essential to contextualise the dimensions of violence in plain language so that communities can understand the impact and proactively address the challenges with innovative, community-driven solutions. Secondly, as an artist and digital communicator, I create audio-visual content, such as posters, banners and photomontages to encourage non-defensive dialogue and move people to act rather than remain bystanders.

From the perspective of a Zimbabwean, EcoFeminist Millennial, it appears that the root causes of the shadow-pandemic of gender-based-violence (GBV) are enshrined in the primordial need men have for relevance and respect in the eyes of society. This is often acted out with little to no consideration for the girls and women who are forced to take the fall. Simultaneously, when the feminine identity is rooted in relating to women as property, lacking agency, without voice or the financial independence to “simply walk away and start over somewhere else”, a dangerous cycle is perpetuated by community buy-in.

From a community perspective, when it is assumed that GBV is limited to physical assault i.e a beating or rape, what glares back at us from the void is the neglect of the full picture. Verbal and emotional violence usually precede the physical assault subtly disguised as maladaptive coping mechanisms like blaming, shaming, guilting, bullying, belittling, stonewalling and standing by as a passive observer when a victim is being abused.

According to the United Nations (2020), at least 60% of countries still discriminate against daughters’ rights to inherit land and non-land assets in either law or practice. Then worldwide, nearly 1 in 4 girls aged 15–19 years is neither employed nor in education or training compared to 1 in 10 boys of the same age. By 2021 around 435 million women and girls will be living on less than $1.90 a day — including 47 million pushed into poverty as a result of COVID-19. Additionally, 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence. Emerging data shows that since the outbreak of COVID-19, violence against women and girls (VAWG), and particularly domestic violence, has become more intense.

This necessitated the need for the World Conference on Women in Beijing where in 1995 countries unanimously adopted the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing the rights of not only women but girls. The Beijing Declaration is still the first to specifically call out girls’ rights. Daily, girls and women face a host of challenges which have a compounding effect that leaves them and their offspring the most vulnerable, left the farthest behind, and in possession of the least. Overall, the achievement of the SDG’s in Africa has stagnated, and with the emergence of COVID-19, development initiatives to reduce inequalities between girls, women, boys and men has been met with much resistance, retaliation and punity manifested through gender-based-violence (GBV).