A young lawyer, Freddy Masirirevu has joined the initiative to educate other fellow men to fight gender-based violence (GBV).
Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world in commemorating 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
On Friday the young lawyer mobilised scores of young people to denounce those who use their political muscles to abuse women. They held placards written, “Power is temporary but humanity is permanent.”
Speaking to this publication Masirirevu said that the march comes at a time when certain individuals were manipulating the political system of the country to abuse women.
“Gender-based violence is broad and it doesn’t happen in a domestic set up but sometimes in workplaces and some politically connected people are also abusing women using the systems of the government – something that should stop
“Everyone was born from the womb of a woman and those people should be respected rather than abusing them,” Masirirevu said.
Masarirevhu alluded to a number of cases he felt demonstrated how men were allegedly abusing their political power to ‘fix” their female counterparts. He made reference to Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, Marry Mubaiwa who is being denied her travel documents to get treatment for a skin ailment that she is battling which she believes emanated from the Bulawayo bomb attack three years ago.
Mubaiwa recently made an urgent High Court application to have her passport released following the ‘callous’ treatment she is allegedly receiving from the State.
Masarirevhu said all this drama is unfolding and affecting women who are deemed anti-establishment yet the government has an obligation to respect, protect, and uphold human rights.
He alluded to another case earlier this year when the MDC trio of Netsai Marova, Cecilia Chimbiri, and legislator Joana Mamombe was allegedly abducted and tortured. Despite going through such suffering and as if that was not enough, the girls were instead later accused of communicating falsehoods to bring the country into disrepute.
