Zimbabwean legislator says women are increasingly violent on their husbands




Temba Mliswa
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NORTON Independent legislator Temba Mliswa says a majority of husbands are suffering silently at home as they are being beaten by their spouses.

Mliswa called on the government to include men in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) programme as most of them were being ill-treated by their spouses or women colleagues at work and other different spheres of social life.

“The minister (Sithembiso Nyoni) did not say anything about men who are also being beaten and shouted at by women especially those who are married. At least l do not have a wife. The men are under siege,” he said.

Mliswa was following up on Nyoni’s response to MDC Alliance Proportional Representation MP Lindiwe Maphosa who had asked how the government was tackling the issue of GBV acceleration due to Covid-19.

“They (men) should also be protected because most of them are not happy in their homes or wherever they are because of harassment from women. They deserve to be happy too but most are being abused,” said Mliswa.

Women Affairs Minister Nyoni admitted women had become agents of violence too.

“This is a serious problem across gender which needs to be looked at and resolved amicably.

“GBV has become another pandemic. Women are facing violence in their families and this is not just in the urban areas. We now have such cases in rural areas. The ministry is working with partners and together we have developed safe homes, one-stop centres where women can get assistance,” she said.

“We are also working with civil society organisations and other government ministries to deal with the problem.

“Drug and alcohol abuse especially in growth centres has become another challenge in our society but the problems are emanating from a bigger underlying issue. We need to find out and nip this bug which has resulted in the abuse of these substances by our children.”

The minister also commended those men who were forming organisations that deal with men’s issues. – Newzim