A CHITUNGWIZA-BASED non-governmental organisation, Girls and Women Empowerment Network (GWEN) Trust, has started offering advice and support to girls and women facing sexual and physical abuse at public boreholes as the water crisis in the dormitory town worsens.
by PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
For the past three months, most residents were being forced to fetch water from public boreholes or shallow wells as the municipality fails to provide consistent water supplies. GWEN Trust director Kumbirai Kahiya said water had become a commercialised commodity and many from poor families particularly girls and young women were being sexually abused in exchange for water in the town.
“The water crisis is promoting hooliganism as some people are violently controlling public boreholes, demanding that people should pay them so as to fetch water. Girls and women have fallen prey to some of these gangs as they try to get water,” Kahiya said.
“There is need to continue educating the girl child and women about sexual abuse and the risks associated with searching for water at night, the risks of engaging in sexual relationships with older men and walking alone in dark and secluded places as they search for water.”
The organisation has also noted that young girls were missing precious school hours as they queue for water due to the patriarchal nature of the community.
“Children writing examinations risk failing as they spend hours searching for water rather than studying, go for exams without a decent bath and it is worse for menstruating girls who have to sit for 2-3 hours in an exam. The discomfort is unbearable,” Kahiya said.
Chitungwiza residents have ben engaging their council on the crisis that could soon spawn an epidemic as the summer season starts.
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However, the city fathers say the council is engaging the central government to construct a dam solely for the town’s water supply as a permanent solution to the crisis.
