Partner Organisation: The Musasa Project
An organisation working on violence against women in Zimbabwe. In the Shona language, Musasa is a tree and it also means a temporary place of residence. The tree, when green, gives very good shade and people can sit and rest, then continue to their destination. People build a “musasa” as a temporary shelter until their main shelter is built.
Areas of work: Violence against Women
The organisation offers counselling to women who have experienced violence; there is a refuge where women and children can stay; a research unit works on HIV/AIDS and the linkages between violence against women and the spread of HIV/AIDS; there is a Training and Education Unit that works in communities on awareness-raising and developing local responses and support networks. The work focuses on women’s human rights and they have lobbied the government, particularly the Ministry of Education to be able to work in schools.
Campaigns
White Ribbon campaign - 25th November
Every year Musasa run a local White Ribbon Campaign in the community encouraging people to march through the streets raising awareness about violence against women. Musasa have run national media campaigns about domestic violence and they have adverts on the radio raising awareness.
Violence against women awareness raising and mobilisationThe Public Education and Training Unit (PETU) organises events in local communities to sensitise the community about violence against women and gender issues starting with local chiefs and leaders then working with the community as a whole.
Womankind Focus: Public Education and Training Unit (PETU)
WOMANKIND supports the PETU in their work with local communities, teachers, young people, police, magistrates and MPs. The Unit’s work centres on improving the police and community responses to and support for women experiencing domestic violence. The PETU work concentrates on the themes of mutual respect, skills, gender and knowledge.
Partner workers: Emily and Musasa
Partner Organisation: Zimbabwe Women Lawyer's Association (ZWLA)
A network of women lawyers working on women’s human rights in the law in Zimbabwe. They are based in Harare (the capital) and Bulawayo (the second city).
Areas of work
ZWLA offers free legal advice, and support to female clients who request their services and joins those with more complex cases in court to represent them directly. These cases often involve maintenance for their children, injunctions against violent men, custody and inheritance claims. ZWLA also has a Children’s Desk to assist children in cases of inheritance and protection. ZWLA has mobile clinics that go into the rural areas to offer advice and support. ?They run empowerment sessions for women to give them the necessary skills to represent themselves in court. ZWLA also develops test cases i.e. a case that tests the law on a particular point and then sets a positive precedent for future cases. These are crucial pieces of work because the precedents set allow women to more fully exercise their legal rights.
Emily with members of ZWLA
Womankind Focus: Legal Aid Programme
Supports disadvantaged women in Harare and Bulawayo and selected rural areas in their legal claims.
Informs community women on relevant and substantive laws and legal procedure so that they can represent themselves in the court system.
Trains community women to assist other women in their communities to access their rights and legal claims.
Educates court officials about women’s legal rights and women’s experiences within the judicial system on the basis of ZWLA’s documentation of cases and collection of women’s testimonies.
Partner workers: Emily and ZWLA
