In March 2020, Musasa Project, an organization which responds to Gender Based Violence (GBV) amongst women, released an article which indicated that there had been an increase in reported GBV cases due to the imposed Covid-19 related lockdowns.
To ensure collective efforts in GBV response, Tag a Life International (TaLI) a girls and young women’s rights organisation, whose one of the thematic areas is GBV and Peace Building also took it upon itself to respond to GBV cases during the lockdown period.
Through our Leadership, Economic and Mentorship Hubs (LEMHs) programme which is a girls and young women empowerment programme that aims at building girls and young women’s voice and leadership skills on their rights to have agency to claim their own rights and the rights of their peers; we tapped into the pool of our social capital of our young women whom we offered refresher training as providers of on-line response to GBV and peace-building.
This refresher course was conducted for the 25 girls who joined the Front Line GBV Response Team. They were impacted with skills on how to offer basic counselling to victims of abuse.
TaLI Founding Director Ms Nyaradzo Mashayamombe emphasied on the need for young women to be frontline defenders and leaders in the Covid-19 pandemic rather than just victims.
The trained girls and young women were then recruited as the Frontline Rapid Response to GBV team. The young women became educators to women and girls on how to detect GBV as well as how to find help even during lock downs in their communities.
They used Ms Nyaradzo’s Identities Umhlobo TV Show which aired on ZBC to reach out to millions of people in the country with their messages to create the uptake of their GBV front line services.
The young women were also gracious enough to offer their own mobile numbers to victims on air to contact them, and TaLI developed adverts that further published their mobile numbers to the public.
From the demand that was created by this media work, the young women then received GBV cases where they would offer basic counselling, refer cases to nearest community pathways using whatsapp, text messages and phone calls.
The young women were supported for airtime and data by TaLI through the gracious support of HIVOS’s WE4L and Global Fund for Women programme.
Since we started responding to cases of Gender Based Violence during the Covid-19 lockdown, we have received many cases that are different in nature. We have received cases of physical abuse, this is whereby girls and women are beaten or physically tortured by their husbands, caregivers or men in their communities.
Looking at this type of abuse, we have received sad and disturbing cases of women being abused for no or minor reasons.
In one of the cases received a young woman aged 20 was badly beaten by her boyfriend after visiting him for a few days from Gweru. She was beaten to the extent that she ran away at night and spent a large part of the night outside until a female neighbour took her in and told her about our TaLI’s GBV frontline work where she contacted one of the young women who assisted her with referral where she got shelter at Musasa project.
Since March 2020 we have received many cases that are similar to the ones above, we received one from Manicaland of a woman who was beaten by her husband until she sustained nose injuries, another is of a girl who was being beaten by her brother who was also abusing drugs. From the cases received, we helped with basic counselling including seeking legal assistance with the police and the courts.
During the Covid-19 period, a total of 650 cases of abuse were received and responded to online.
As Front line Rapid Responders to GBV we have received Sexual abuse cases. Cases where girls and women are being raped, sexually fondled and even shown phonographic material by their caregivers, fathers, husbands and men in their communities.
We have received marital rape cases of women who are being forced to constantly have sex with their husband unwillingly, cases of girls who are being touched on their private parts without their consent and being raped by people they know including neighbours.
We received cases of girls and women who are being shown phonographic materials unwillingly and some are being sent phonographic pictures and videos on their WhatsApp by friends family and neighbours. Cases of women having their nude pictures or videos being linked and being blackmailed to having then exposed after they had shared them in confidentiality.
Furthermore, there were reported cases of emotional/psychological abuse. This is when girls and women are being abused emotionally through cyber bullying, being told harsh words and harsh actions by their partners, relatives, friends and caregivers.
In some instances, women were being told harsh and offending words even by fellow women. These cases like any other we have advised that it is a crime that should be reported and again we have provided basic counselling through our young women.
Moreover we have received financial abuse cases, cases where men are depriving women of their financial independence. Women are having their salaries being taken by their husband and left with no money even to buy their sanitary wear. We heard of cases where men walked out on their families during the lock downs and left them to fend for the children alone.
These cases we have encouraged women to report to the police and some we elevated to Musasa project where there are enough resources to assist with instruments such as seeking for maintenance through the courts of law.