domestic abuse - The African Mirror

Jun

2021

‘If he hits you, he loves you’

FARAI SHAWN MATIASHE "IF he does not hit you, he does not love you enough" is the sort of age-old 'truism' that Zimbabwe activists say gives men free rein to beat their wives and stops women complaining. But things are now changing, according to women's rights activists, albeit slowly and from a crashingly low base. At least one in three women in Zimbabwe encounters physical violence, most at the hands of a husband or partner - a grim statistic that has only worsened in lockdown as domestic tensions play out around the clock and behind locked doors. Take Yvonne Zimuto,…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Eyes and ears: UK tradespeople trained to spot domestic abuse

WORLD

EMMA BATHA HUNDREDS of British tradespeople are being trained to spot signs of domestic abuse - from punch holes in doors to broken bathroom locks - during callouts for home repairs under a new initiative. Other telltale signs could include kick marks on walls, wobbly handles or broken hinges to rooms where victims seek shelter, along with a tense atmosphere or fearful children. "This is a first for the industry," said a spokeswoman for Morgan Sindall Property Services, which has contracts across the country covering about 200,000 properties owned by local authorities and other social housing providers. Domestic abuse has…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Why domestic abuse is such a difficult subject for churches

RELIGION

CHURCHES can be a refuge for women fleeing domestic abuse. But sometimes they can help perpetuate abuse by failing to offer support when needed. There can be many reasons for this. Sometimes it’s because church leaders simply don’t understand – or are not willing to accept – that domestic abuse occurs within their congregations. AVA KANYEREDZI, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, University of East London I have spent five years with the Black Church Domestic Abuse Forum (BCDAF) and helped create a programme to train church leaders on the most vital issues in the hope it will address domestic abuse…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

In domestic abuse crackdown, UK law targets ‘horrendous’ strangling attacks

WORLD

EMMA BATHA DOMESTIC abusers who attack their partners by throttling them could face up to seven years in jail under a new law to make non-fatal strangulation a specific offence in England and Wales, the government confirmed on Monday. The law will close a loophole that often lets abusers escape justice for choking attacks - which can cause brain damage, strokes and other serious injury - and comes amid fears domestic violence could surge during Britain's third COVID-19 lockdown. "I've heard too many terrible stories of women being throttled only to see their abusers get off with a slap on…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Most countries failing to address women’s needs during pandemic – UN

COVID-19

LISA OHLEN ONLY one in eight countries worldwide have brought in measures to specifically protect women from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a database of government responses to COVID-19 launched by two U.N. agencies on Monday. The crisis offers a chance to reshape societies for a fairer future, but many nations are failing to protect women and girls from pandemic-linked risks such as a surge in domestic abuse, said U.N. Women and the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP). "The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting women hard - as victims of domestic violence locked down with their abusers, as unpaid…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Tuk-tuk warriors: the abuse victims who rode to women’s rescue in lockdown India

WORLD

ANNIE BANERJI As the coronavirus kept virtually everyone at home, Talat Jahan was busily crisscrossing the slums in her black-and-yellow rickshaw - on a lockdown mission to help women suffering abuse and hunger in her central Indian city. Jahan, 29, a domestic abuse survivor, and about a dozen other women who recently trained to become Bhopal's first female rickshaw drivers ferried food and other essentials to hard-hit city families during India's months-long lockdown. But often, Jahan said, she and her fellow volunteers from the Gauravi one-stop crisis centre were simply a sympathetic ear for women cooped up with their abusers…