Combatting Violence Against Women in Southern Africa

They came to my house and took me to their base. There, I found other women. I was beaten… They raped me and now I’ve got infected with HIV/AIDS… When I go the clinic I see the man who raped me.
—Memory, a survivor of politically motivated violence against women in Zimbabwe

This is just one of millions of stories of violence against women in Africa. Gender-based violence knows no boundaries—it happens everywhere—at home and at work, on the streets and in schools, during peacetime and in conflict. It touches every country within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). However, recent trends indicate that it has reached crisis points in countries like Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Madagascar, and Tanzania.

While the SADC has adopted the Gender and Development Protocol, which provides accountability for crimes of violence against women, and the SADC Tribunal, which has a mandate to prosecute perpetrators of crimes—SADC members are not upholding their agreements.

The Open Society Institute International Women's Program and WITNESS cosponsored this discussion on violence against women in the region and the role of SADC member states in ending it.

The panel was preceded by a screening of the film Hear Us: Women Affected by Politically Motivated Violence Against Women In Zimbabwe Speak Out.

Panelists

• Kudakwashe Chitsike, Program Manager at Research Advocacy Unit (Zimbabwe)
• Kelli Muddell, Gender Specialist at the International Center for Transitional Justice
• Marianne Mollmann, Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch
• Bukeni Waruzi, Program Coordinator for Africa and the Middle East at WITNESS (Moderator)

Zaynab Nawaz, program officer for the International Women’s Program, introduced the event.

View the Film