by stephen chandisareva
Harare 31 July 2017(News of the South) – The Gender Based Violence (GBV) reported cases in recent years has gone up, an increase ADVC said might be a reflection of an increase in the knowledge of the domestic violence laws and therefore an increase in uptake of service available for survivors.
Recently the government appointed a 12 member Council board to help stop the scourge of Domestic violence through monitoring and implementation of the Domestic violence Act.
In an interview, Anti Domestic Violence Council Chairperson, Mrs Eunice Njovana said statistics of Domestic Violence from Zimbabwe Republic Police shows that 2016 GBV reported cases has increased from the previous years, a reflection that people are now aware of the Domestic Violence laws or it is an indicative of an increase in incidences of gender based violence.
“In 2012, 12 043 cases of GBV were reported and in 2013, 12 052 cases of GBV were reported.
“In 2014, 13 919 cases of GBV were reported and in 2015, 18 001 cases were reported.
“In 2016, there was 19 666 cases of GBV reported.
“The reason for the increase in reported cases can be attributed to two things, there is an increase in the knowledge of the domestic violence laws and therefore an increase in uptake of service available for survivors.
“It could also unfortunately be indicative of an increase in incidences of gender based violence,” she said.
She said education on domestic violence should be introduced in schools so as to equip women and girls on laws related to Domestic Violence Act.
“Education on domestic violence needs to be included in school curricula so that the mindset of men and boys as well as girls and women is set to recognize the negative impacts of this type of violence on our society.
“What continues to be a need in terms of action is dissemination of knowledge to women and girls countrywide on laws related to gender based violence and particularly the Domestic Violence Act,” she said.
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