TRYMORE TAGWIREI
MIRROR REPORTER

MASVINGO – The Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWALA) hosted belated International Women’s Day commemorations at Pamushana High School in Bikita where critical stakeholders against Gender Based Violence (GBV) and child abuse were represented.
ZWLA and its partners, Union for Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe (UDACIZA) and Musasa Project had a fruitful programme with marches and presentations on awareness by different stakeholders.
The three partners held the programme in Bikita where they currently have programmes on the dangers of GBV, abuse in churches, child marriages, abuse of women and other types of abuses running in wards 19, 13,32 and 21.
The programs are supported by Trocaire.
Participants at the event started by marching around with banners, chanting anti-GBV songs and they performed poems and dramas on abuses. Later presentations were made by different stakeholders.
Key stakeholders at the event included Chief Marozva, ZRP Victim Friendly Unit, Judicial Service Commission, Department of Social Welfare, representatives of different Government departments, human rights organisations, councillors, village heads and villagers.
The event ran under the theme ‘Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress’.
The International Women’s Day was officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977 and the day is celebrated globally on March 8 every year.
Speaking at the occasion ZWLA Senior Legal Officer Isabel Palacida said her organisation is there to help women and children who are facing abuse.
She said that her organisation has two departments on education and the other which offers free legal service.
“We have a department that educates you on abuse and the other one which offers you free legal services. We encourage you to report any case of abuse and you must report the cases on time,’’ she said.
Turning to celebrating Women’s Day Palacida urged women to take up decision making positions in all spheres of life.
“We have come together with other partners today to celebrate the International Women’s day and as Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association we are there to protect you. We have two departments that are solely there for women and children,” said Palacida.
Chief Marozva thanked the three organisations for holding the celebrations in his area.
Bikita District Development Officer in the Ministry of Women Affairs Small and Medium Enterprise Sinikiwe Bhenyu said that there were also women who abuse their husbands and they too should learn that peace is important in the home.
She said that the celebrations are important for reflection of the important chores that women play in the family.
“I heard that there are women who violently abuse their husbands. I think today they will learn a lesson on the effects of abuse. We want peace in our homes and we want to live in peace and harmony. Where there is peace there is development and I want to urge all men to desist from abusing their women,” she said.
“I want to express my sincere gratitude to Musasa, UDACIZA and ZWALA for raising awareness against GBV and other types of abuses in my area. I have a firm believe that people will not commit any abuse case because they learnt a lot today and that will remove the burden on our traditional courts,’’ said Chief Marozva.