By Michael Gwarisa in Mbire
At the height of COVID-19 in 2021, when she was only 17 and about to sit for her ordinary-level examinations, Tracy Mushonga (not her real name) from Nyakatsa B1 Village in Mbire, Mashonaland Central was impregnated. She dropped out of school and went to live with her husband. A few months into her marriage, Tracey realised all was not rosy as her husband would physically abuse her daily.
Between the period 2020 and 2021 when the world was on lockdown due to COVID-19, Mashonaland Central recorded one of the highest incidences of teen pregnancies in the history of Zimbabwe, with over 4000 pregnancies recorded for girls aged between 15 and 19 years in all eight districts. Unfortunately, Tracey was amongst these statistics.
He would hit me saying his parents do not want me and he didn’t want me as his wife. This was a daily thing,” said a teary Tracey.
“When I had my child, the abuse got worse. At times together with his parents, they would leave the house to me without any food or anything for the baby. I would go and steal food and soap from my parent’s house. When my parents found out, it didn’t go down well with them, and they ended up taking me away from that marriage when my baby was five months old.”
After a year and five months, Tracey weaned the baby and went to look for a job as a housemaid. Even though she has separated from her husband, he continues to abuse her emotionally as he has snatched her child from her and blocked her from seeing him. Over the past 12 months, she has tried countless times to get her child back to no avail.
However, for the first time in her quest to get her child back, Tracey has seen some light at the end of the tunnel following the visit by the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Mobile One Stop Centre team in her community. Hundreds of men, women and children of different ages have come trough to get services. The GBV Mobile One Stop Centre program is being implemented by the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) through financial support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which is working with various relevant partners. The Community Outreach by the One Stop Centre team offers a range of services to communities and survivors of GBV.
“I first went to the Department of Social Development (DSD) desk and they took down my case. I was then referred to the legal desk where I met lawyers and they promised to assist me in getting my child back. The issue of not getting access to my child has been eating me up emotionally and I am glad, the lawyers who have come here have already initiated the process of ensuring I get my child back very soon. They say they will help me with bus fare and all the assistance that is needed until I can be reunited with my child,” said Tracey.
This outreach is part of a broader effort to create grassroots resilient mechanisms and reduce inequalities by increasing access to comprehensive GBV services in Zimbabwe. The Mobile One Stop Centre program has roped in various partners to offer services during the community outreach programs. Some of the services on offer during Mobile community outreaches include birth registry services from the Department of the Civil Registry, clinical services offered by the Ministry of Health and Child Care officers, legal services offered by various partners such Musasa project, ZWALA and others. Counseling services are offered by Pamuhacha, reporting of sexual and gender-based violence cases to the Victim Friendly Unit (VFU) among other services.
Government ministries involved in the program include the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development (MoWACSMED), Ministry of Health, and departments such as the Central Registry, and Department of Social Development, among others.
The One Stop Centre Program came up as a result of the National Inquiry that was conducted in 2022 by the Zimbabwe Gender Commission where they were looking at child marriages and also abuse of young girls including those who are disabled. One of the important recommendations from the National inquiry was that of adopting a comprehensive approach to the issues that emerged from the inquiry, hence the birth of Mobile One Stop Centres around the country.
Mrs Margaret Sangarwe-Mukahanana, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission Chairperson said data from the national inquiry found that Mashonaland Central had the highest rate of teen pregnancies and early child marriages.
“That’s why we decided to start with Mash Central. One of the major highlights from the inquiry was that so many young girls were dropping out of school as a result of the abuse they experienced and also due to the preference to send the boy child to school instead of the girl,” said Mrs Sangarwe.
“We also found that there are a lot of people with disabilities who are being abused but they are not accessing justice because they don’t have the capacity. That is why we decided that we should go to the people and try to help them through the mobile One Stop Centres.”
She said resource permitting, they intend to conduct Mobil One Stop Centres as often as possible. The Mobile One Stop Centre program is being implemented across the country’s 10 provinces.
The program also works closely with traditional leaders to promote the uptake of service by communities. Mr Godwin Muzeze or Chief Chitsungo said issues of GBV were rife in his community.
“We record high cases of GBV in this area. We also record high cases of child marriages and sexual abuse of young girls. I however believe this program of the Mobile Stop Centre, if it continues, will help reduce the prevalence of GBV in my area,” said Chief Chitsungo.
The UNDP Zimbabwe through partnership with the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, has been able to convene government ministries, in particular the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Ministry of Public Service the Ministry of Health and Child Care and other government departments.
“A lot of these beneficiaries are living below the poverty datum line and are economically challenges. It is important to look at those challenges and see methods and ways of how we can bring services closer to the people. This program actually operatinalises the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is SDGs in action SDG 5 on Gender Equality and Women empowerment, SDG 16 where you are also talking about different governance services,” said Mrs Tafadzwa Muvingi, the UNDP Zimbabwe Team Leader Transformative Governance.
She added that the Mobile One Stop Centre program needs to be replicated in places where there minimal access to services by beneficiaries. She also said they were working on mobilising more resources particularly to reach the hard to reach areas. The UNDP has poured approximately over half a million to the Mobile One Stop Center program in Zimbabwe.
NB// The name of the survivor has been altered to protect her identity
