By Dylan Murambgi
A Goromonzi rights activist has bemoaned the rising tide of Gender Based Violence on the back of calls for the inception of meaningful economic empowerment policies.
The remarkable observations, right from the roots of the community coincides with the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence: A global movement for change held every year, from November 25 to December 10, reveals a dire situation calling for urgent change across the country’s mining villages.
“I stay in Ward 17 and by just looking assessing the nature of disputes being presided over at the traditional courts one can safely note that GBV is on the rise, dominating the quantum of cases brought for arbitration.
“Most couples are not able to co-exist peacefully and when take a closer look one can safely note that at the heart of these disputes in mining villages is the issue of unemployment. Mining companies in our localities are choosing to offer jobs to young men over their female counterparts leaving the latter with no choice except to opt for early marriages as a survival means,” Mary Nyadome of Goromonzi said.
Dome said this in the end leaves the female counterparts over dependent on their spouses for support with the overwhelming demands in the home brewing discontent arguments and subsequently GBV.
“These traditional leaders are also fueling GBV by failing to engage with the companies to encourage them to equally hire these young women and I believe there is a gap for engagement in that regard,” said Dome.
