{"id":1671,"date":"2021-03-13T17:29:13","date_gmt":"2021-03-13T17:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=1671"},"modified":"2021-03-13T17:40:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T17:40:45","slug":"police-violence-against-women-in-zimbabwe-increases-with-impunity-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=1671","title":{"rendered":"Police Violence Against Women In Zimbabwe Increases With Impunity During Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/span>\u00a0Tatira Robert Zwinoira\u00a0<\/a> | Image Source: Zimbabwe Republic Police<\/span><\/p>\n

Amid increasing reports of violence against women in Zimbabwe during the pandemic, three women are coming forward to tell of their beatings at the hands of police.<\/p>\n

While the women were sitting on the verandah at one of their homes, police showed up and beat them before following them into the house to beat them some more, one of the victims told Zenger News.<\/p>\n

Naomi Burayimu, 42, suffered a broken hand. Sabina Jiri, 50, and Eunice Muchenje, 52, were beaten on their backs, chests, feet, and buttocks, and are still dealing with their injuries.<\/p>\n

Burayimu, a street vendor, and her two colleagues said they were assaulted by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police at Jiri\u2019s home in Lion\u2019s Den after voting in the ruling party\u2019s by-elections in Makonde District, Mashonaland West Province, on Dec. 28. They were told to return to the voting station later after technical issues were resolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had come back to Sabina\u2019s at around 1 or 2 p.m. While we were sitting on the verandah of Sabina\u2019s house, waiting for the presiding elections officer to take us back to the polling station, we saw a lot of police arrive,\u201d Burayimu told Zenger News.<\/p>\n

They assumed the police had arrived for food, as Jiri would often cook for them during by-elections. But they were shocked to find themselves being questioned about why they were sitting on the verandah. After the women explained, \u201cthe police responded to that by immediately proceeding to enter the yard and beat us, barking orders for us to get back inside the house,\u201d according to Burayimu.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey even followed us inside, still beating us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After some time, some of the more than 10 officers present stopped beating Jiri, Burayimu, and Muchenje and started indiscriminately attacking other people in the area.<\/p>\n

Womankind<\/u><\/a>, a U.S.-based nonprofit, has received reports from its partners in Zimbabwe and two other countries \u201cabout violence against women by law enforcement officers and other state and community officials as they enforce social distancing measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis use of excessive force by security forces is common in these contexts at times of crisis, and women often experience high levels of violence at the hands of state officials, including arbitrary detentions, with perpetrators acting with impunity,\u201d the organization said.<\/p>\n

Police report to no avail<\/strong><\/p>\n

The women called for assistance to get to the nearby\u00a0Murereka police station<\/u><\/a>\u00a0to file a report against the officers that they could use to get treated at a clinic. Instead, they said, they were chased away by the officer in charge.<\/p>\n

As they were returning to Jiri\u2019s house, some of the officers who had beaten them earlier, followed them and threatened to beat them again if they left the house, the women said. The officers then left.<\/p>\n

But as their pain increased, Jiri, Burayimu, and Muchenje were taken to a nearby clinic by some people who offered to help. They said they received limited treatment due to a shortage of medical supplies and were forced to return to Jiri\u2019s house in pain.<\/p>\n

The women then called to seek assistance from the ruling party\u2019s District Coordinating Committee front-runner and Member of Parliament\u00a0Kindness Paradza<\/u><\/a>, who was in Chinhoyi, the province\u2019s capital. After Paradza arrived and the women told him what had happened, he accompanied them to the police station and convinced officers to allow them to make their report so that they could get treatment at a government hospital.<\/p>\n

While making their police report, however, the three women were arrested by the same officer who had initially chased them.<\/p>\n

The charge? An assault on the police station two days earlier that the women knew nothing about.\u00a0At that point, the women said, Paradza stopped assisting them, even though they had helped him in his by-election.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were released later, on Dec. 31, paying a bail of the equivalent of $115 each at the provincial Magistrates Court,\u201d Burayimu said.<\/p>\n

Since being bailed out, Jiri, Burayimu, and Muchenje were called for court appearances in January and February, with their next appearance set for March 13. The court appearances have been financially taxing for all three women, who earn very low wages as street vendors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Police \u201cunaware\u201d of attacks on women<\/strong><\/p>\n

National police spokesperson\u00a0Assistant Commissioner\u00a0Paul Nyathi<\/u><\/a>\u00a0said he was not aware of the assaults on the three women.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would request that those women come forward so that we can investigate,\u201d Nyathi said.<\/p>\n

He denied systemic abuse by police against civilians during enforcement of the COVID-19 lockdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone has got specific concerns in terms of the enforcement of COVID-19 regulations, let\u2019s have those specific concerns highlighted, not to generalize to say police have been violent during COVID-19,\u201d Nyathi said. \u201cTo be honest, that is totally not correct.\u201d<\/p>\n

The police took action one-time last year when six officers were arrested<\/u><\/a>\u00a0on charges of brutally beating two sisters in Bulawayo for allegedly breaching lockdown rules.<\/p>\n

Human rights groups cite increasing violence<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cViolence, in general, has been on the rise against citizens,\u201d said Musa Kika, executive director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum<\/u><\/a>. \u201cThe police are the major culprits. The army is also involved now and again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research by the\u00a0Women\u2019s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence<\/u><\/a>\u00a0shows a surge in gender-based violence against women since periodic pandemic restrictions began.\u00a0A\u00a0report<\/u><\/a>\u00a0by the organization states that 985 cases of human rights violations against women have been recorded since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Zimbabwe in March 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we approached the third week of the COVID lockdown in April 2020, there were already incidences of a systematic state security crackdown targeting women,\u201d including abductions, unlawful arrests, torture, sexual assault, and beatings,\u201d said Batanayi Gwangwawa, programs manager for the Women\u2019s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to state abuse, that has a lot to do with the government taking advantage of the situation and then trying to shrink the democratic space because they always wanted to do it. And, this just happened to be an opportune time to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Zenger News<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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