Gender Tales from Zvishavane District in Zimbabwe.
Voices of Women and Men Against Gender Violence.
The voices narrate their experiences of gender discrimination and gender violence within their families and communities before Musasa Project came in with their intervention activities. The voices are those, of women who turned to prostitution because of gender discrimination within their families and communities and how their behaviour changed through the Musasa Project intervention, of women who have always been discriminated within their communities by being left out in occupying decision making positions in their community. The voices are of men who tell their experiences as wife abusers and how they have changed their behaviour after getting involved in the Musasa Project and of men who are fighting gender violence in their communities.
These are “real world” stories by women and men living in a society that discriminates against women in all aspects of life, socially, economical and political and where violence against women is rampant invite us to think though the oppressive gender relations that confront women and girls in our society of Zimbabwe. These stories show how an intervention project by a human rights organization, which deals with gender violence, actually helped to transform the lives of a few commercial sex workers and the lives of a few courageous ordinary rural women from their subordinate positions to decision making positions. The stories of men who were transformed by this project to become men who are fighters of gender violence and are helping their communities to deal with gender violence.
The stories in gender tales from Zimbabwe show how an intervention can help vulnerable and high risk groups to HIV infection can gradually change their behaviour and actually move away from being a high risk groups dependent on men to become economically independent. The stories tell of how a chief and his community become engendered and elected women into decision-making positions and how some men are fighting violence against women in their community.
The following tales form Zvishavane district in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe were written or narrated by women and men based upon their own experiences and observations of gender relations in their communities and how the community action project on violence against women transformed their lives. The aim of producing these stories is to try and show how an effective project intervention in a community can actually transform communities’ attitudes towards gender and gender violence in the communities, which no longer tolerate gender discrimination, and gender violence.
“Who loves a prostitute?”
Nunu’s Story
My name is Nunu Mdala.I’m 29 years old. I became a commercial sex worker when I was 17 years old because my stepmother used to abuse me time and again since my mother had passed away. I failed even to sit for my O-level examinations because I was starving, no food, no better clothes and no school fees. As a result, I just thought going into beerhalls was the best solution since I could see some Commercial Sex Workers carrying food from their boyfriends, some with a lot of money. Beside that I just thought being a commercial Sex Worker was the easiest job that I could start working on since there was no need of an application letter, educational and professional certificates and CV. At that time I was not aware about the use of condoms. I didn’t know my rights as a human being including my sexual and reproductive rights.
My nickname was “Ada atora”meaning whoever wanted to have sex with me was free. My friends “hard times never kill but they come and pass”. I encountered so many problems at the beerhalls and at nightclubs. Most of the times I was forced to have sex without a condom hence gaining STIs instead of money. I had so many boyfriends but to my surprise, they could not fulfill my wishes. Some of my boyfriends used to beat me up when I claimed for money after having sex with them. In winter seasons I was just like a reed in water, I could shiver all the night hunting for boyfriends. The police used to arrest me and my friends for loitering so we became enemies. They also abused me by using sex as a bribe. They would say,”If you have sex with me, I will set you free”.
In my community, I was an example of a rubbish bin because of my behaviour. My neighours, relatives started hating me because they thought I could spoil their children. Some thought I could take their husbands. At community meetings nobody listened to my ideas, as I was a nobody but a prostitute.
Sometimes my male clients beat me up or raped me but I was afraid to go to the police camp since the policemen would harass me instead of solving my problems. As time went on I met some Commercial Sex Workers who wanted to form an association for single mothers (CSWs) and I joined them. Three days later Zvishavane Women Aids Prevention Association (ZWAPA) was formed and I became one of the members. After two weeks Musasa Project began to invite our group for the Commercial Sex Workers Peer Educators training workshops. They taught us a lot of things such as gender, gender violence, sexual and reproductive rights, STIs and HIV, self-assertiveness and confidence, good communication, human rights, condom promotion and negotiating for safer sex. That’s when my behaviour changed because of the information, which I gained from Musasa Project through workshops.
Gweru Women AIDS Prevention Association another CSWs group based in Gweru also helped me very much through workshops like Advocacy, Gender equality, Peer to peer mobilization, business management e.t.c. GWAPA also helped me with capital to start my small project of selling dried fish. I want to thank GWAPA for sending their mobile ambulance where we get treated and tested free.
Because of Musasa Project workshops I attended I’m now assertive, I now have one faithful partner but I won’t stop using condoms. I have stopped relying on a boyfriend because I have my own business. I always seek early treatment when I’m not feeling well because I now have the knowledge. I can now share ideas and information with others in my community even at some meetings because I have changed my behaviour. I’m not afraid to go to the police camp to report abuses against me because I now know my rights and also that nowadays the police attitudes towards women who report violence has changed. If different NGOs including Musasa Project, ZWAPA and GWAPA are fighting for one goal, which is to stop, gender violence, HIV and AIDS why not all Commercial Sex Workers? We want to fight for a better life. Please! Please! Please! Keep on helping us where ever possible such that I won’t let the project down so that we ex-Commercial Sex Workers can be able to maintain our changed behaviour.
“Now I know the value of condoms”.
Perekai’s Story
My name is Perekai Dube.Iam 37 years. I live in Zvishavane and was born here also. I was married in Nhema (Shurugwi) and have two children both girls. My husband neglected me due to the fact that he had another lady (small house).
After the divorce, I then came back home. I stayed with my brother’s wife. We stayed nicely for only a month there after my brother’s wife started to look down upon me. I had no money to buy soap and other needs, then my mother told me to go and look for work as a domestic worker. I went to Mabasa growth point and got a job as a shopkeeper. I worked as a shopkeeper for only a month then the owner of the shop started making sexual advances and demanded that I have sex with him. The situation became very hard and I decided to leave. I then went to Zvishavane Town to look for employment as a domestic worker. I stayed with my young sister who was married in their one room. After a month she told me to go to the beer halls and become a Commercial Sex Worker. At first I enjoyed the work but as time went by it became hard for me. My male clients refused to use condoms because they were paying for that sex. I had unprotected sex with various men. Some of them would agree to use condoms but would tear the tip of the condom without me knowing as the sex was done in the dark. Some of these clients used to beat me up and take back their money. I was at risk of being beaten up several times each week. The clients gave me the money plus STIs and I was now at high risk of contracting HIV infection.
One day I met a certain lady in the beer hall. She talked to me about a meeting at Chiedza hall and I agreed and went to the hall on the specified day. There we were taught by Musasa Project about STIs and HIV/AIDS and use of condoms for every sexual encounter. We were also taught about sexual and reproductive rights and how to be confident and assertive. After these lessons I started reducing the number of boyfriends and I began to insist on condom use. Now I know the value of condoms. I was tested and I now know my status. Now I really know that depending on a man has many dangers. I am now relying on selling vegetables and fruits as a vendor. My children are now going to school. I now have one partner and we use condoms all the time when having sex.
Although my vending business is going on very well, sometimes I find myself looking for my old boyfriends to get some cash. The money from my business is not enough as prices of goods and food keep on going up everyday but I now insist on condoms.
“I want to be a respected community member”.
Shuvai’s Story
My name is Shuvai Shava. I am 31 years old and have one daughter who is now 14 years old. I come from Mberengwa district in the Midlands Province. I became pregnant in 1991 while I was still at school doing form two. My boyfriend, the father of my child ran away to South Africa where he is working and left me pregnant and look after my child alone.
I stayed with my parents until I delivered my baby. My mother helped me look after my child but when my father died my brothers and their wives began to abuse my child and me. I then went to look for work at Musume Township, which is a big business center in our area. I was employed as a domestic worker for 7 months then I left because my employer used to physically abuse me.
At this township there were buses, which used to stop there for the night. I used to see some girls who were prostitutes entertaining bus drivers, conductors and other men in the beerhalls. It did not take me time to talk to some of these girls and they taught me how to do sex business with men. They told me that there was plenty of money to be made in Commercial Sex Work and that they were really enjoying themselves. They told me that the work had no supervision, no tax and monthly salaries; all I had to do was sleep with men and get paid.
I joined the girls and for that period I really enjoyed myself. The male clients paid well and I always had money and was always well fed and I had enough to send my mother for my daughter’s upkeep. I was able to send my mother groceries every month.
I used to sleep with any man who wanted sex and never cared about condoms for protection. All I wanted was to get away from poverty. I wanted money from men so that I could look after my daughter, my mother and myself. After a while I started having health problems. I suffered from various STIs and physical abuse from the male clients. Some of them accused me of infecting them with STIs.The clients would beat me up after sex and demand their money back.
I packed my few belongings and ran away from Msume without saying goodbye to my friends. I then came to Zvishavane where I live now. I went to the clinic and the nurses treated all the STIs I had. I stayed with a friend for one month. This friend invited me to go to the beerhalls to look for money so that I could rent my own room.
I started Commercial Sex work again on that day and I got enough money to rent a room for myself. My job was paying well during the first days because men pay well when they pick a new lady. In 2002 they were these goldpanners (Makorokoza) who came to dig gold in Zvishavane.They had money to throw around. They had money but they were also dirty, full of lice and were aggressive. That year many CSWs were beaten up and I still have scars to show and I was once stabbed by one of these men after he refused to pay for services rendered. They were also possessive. If you slept with one of them, he would not allow you to sleep with other men.
When we reported to the police, the police would say,“Get away prostitutes you deserve to be beaten”. In August of 2004 I met this girl Tsungai who told me about this group of CSWs who called themselves ZWAPA and were attending workshops, which were being offered by Musasa Project. She told me that these women usually meet at Chiedza Hall. She told me that Musasa Project educated single women who visit beerhalls looking for men like me about HIV/AIDS and human rights. She gave me the dates of the workshop and I decided to attend.
When I got to the hall, it was already full of other CSWs like me. That’s when I met Musasa Project and 30 of us were trained to be Peer educators. After that we went to the beerhalls educating others about STIs/HIV and the use of condoms for every sexual activity. We learnt a lot of empowering information about gender, gender violence, maintenance, and how to obtain birth certificates for our children as single mothers. We also learnt sexual and reproductive rights. I never knew that I have a right in sexual matters and some of the girls fell pregnant without having planned these pregnancies. We also learnt how to negotiate for condom use and how to promote condom use. We were also taught not to depend on men too much and that we can actually do something about our situation. We also learnt about the various types of STIs including HIV.