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Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of violence against women and girls in Harare, Zimbabwe. Section 25 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe stipulates that the State and all agencies of the government at every level must protect and foster the institutions to adopt measures for the prevention of violence. Regardless of such recognition, there have been rampant incidences of politically motivated and domestic violence against women and girls in the country. Domestic violence against women and girls is a violation of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and all of the treaties, conventions, charters and optional protocols on the rights of women. Owing to the prolonged violation of the human rights of both sexes in Zimbabwe, this paper shows that women are more vulnerable to violence. A number of factors predispose women and girls to violence as men are the sole perpetrators of violence against women in Zimbabwe. In this context, policymakers, scholars, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), women’s organisations, development practitioners, and all responsible bodies regarding women’s issues should further direct their attention towards the alleviation and eradication of violence against women and girls in an inclusive and sustainable pattern of development within the Zimbabwean and wider African context. This paper is based on a qualitative study which further explains violence against women and girls from the Althusser Repressive State Apparatus perspective, thus providing transformational solutions to the turmoil at hand. The results of the study show that despite the enactment of laws at the national and international level, women and girls are affected more by the violence in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Author Biography

Maybe Zengenene is with the Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy, University of Zimbabwe.

Emy Susanti is with the Department of Sociology, Universitas Airlangga Surabaya, Indonesia

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