×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Misogyny and blaming women for it

Opinion & Analysis
Women are separated from their children and families for long periods during their incarceration and the entire family suffers horribly and pitiably.

By Miriam T Majome

THE following is an extract from a real online discussion I had with a friend over the alleged failure by women and human rights organisations to “do something” for women facing legal problems.

She: You wonder if human rights and women’s rights groups really stand for everyone or they are full of agendas. They don’t do anything for women.

Me: Explain exactly what you mean. How you want them to stand for them? What exactly do you want them to do? Explain.

She: It’s the dehumanising treatment that goes on, denial of specialist treatment, denial of access to their children, etc. It’s visible for all to see, no need to guess. My concern is do human rights and women’s rights groups only stand for opposition activists or where they have interests or something, and issues like these are nothing to look at?

Me: You still are not saying anything tangible. You are just complaining and repeating what you have said in more words. Say exactly what women’s rights and human rights organisations should and can do in real practical terms in ongoing court cases.

She: It’s clear you don’t want to understand and just want to be difficult.

Me: But I do understand and I am trying to understand even further because I hear this from people all the time that women’s organisations do not do anything for fellow women. I want to understand what you mean by that “they should do something” in court cases involving women.

She: Ah iwe! They must just do something.

And so the conversation went on in circles like that without her even coming close to explaining  what the ‘something’ that she meant  was that she wanted women’s and human rights organisations to do for women undergoing trials and seeming hard done by the system.

Anyone would feel sorry for women hauled before the courts especially if they are mothers.

Women are separated from their children and families for long periods during their incarceration and the entire family suffers horribly and pitiably.

Sympathy is the first instinct and negative feelings towards the judicial system especially when things do not go the women’s way for whatever reason. The sentiment is deeper when there is a real or perceived political element or political character involved in the matter.

However, the truth is very few people know all the facts of cases which will be before the courts. The public usually knows only what the media reports and that is what becomes accepted as the truth.

What is filed in the court record and happens in court between the parties is usually vastly different from what is reported in the media and discussed in public. Emotions and optics rule in the court of public opinion and from all appearances it does indeed seem as if women’s rights organisations never do anything to help other women in need.

Scant regard is paid to the facts and prescribed court processes that have to be followed. Women rights groups and indeed no other have  power to interfere with legal processes that do not involve them.

The sentiment that they can and should interfere is common but is misplaced and mistaken. In whichever case before the courts due process must be followed without fear or favour.

The courts have a duty to dispense justice fairly to all litigants and accused persons without regard to the weight of the names of the parties and their sponsors. All legal processes must be followed in the same manner. Political interference, courtroom dramatics and media reportage have no place in the courtroom and should not influence the outcome.

Court processes are rigid technical procedures with set procedures that must be systematically followed. There are rules for everything that takes place in court proceedings.

Women’s organisations cannot do anything that is not prescribed in the rules of court and cannot interfere with or stop court processes. There are set procedures for the range and type of applications and actions that courts can receive and handle.

Nothing  that is not prescribed in the rules is permitted to happen. Parties are only joined to a case only if they have a clear legitimate right to be included. This is called locus standi. In criminal cases the only parties with locus standi are the State and the accused person/ people. Civil matters do not involve the State but only parties with locus standi.

Women and human rights organisations cannot get involved in court processes which are already underway unless they have a legitimate right to do so. They have no power to stop legal proceedings because of allegations of mistreatment and abuse of the accused woman.

No-one has that power. There is a limited range of actions that people and organisations that are not directly linked to a court case can do. Women’s organisations do many of these things routinely daily and are under no obligation to publicise their activities to non-members.

Women and human rights organisations and defenders do a lot of unsung hard work behind the public eye to help thousands of women in need of help.

Some of the work they do includes petitioning and lobbying politicians to pass just and equitable laws and policies for women, education and awareness of certain relevant issues for women, protesting and demonstrating against injustices against women, issuing Press statements for protest  and publicity of certain issues relevant to women, sponsoring and prosecuting public interest cases and other causes related to the upliftment of women, providing legal, financial, advisory and other support services to women victims of abuse  and injustice to both victims and their families.

They do most of this work privately and do not crow about it as there is no need for it.

Only a tiny fraction of their work ever reaches the public domain but they never do nothing for women.

What is disturbing is that no one appeals to men to do something about the men  and the system that suppresses women. Women bear the double burden of the injustices of the system and the blame for not doing anything to stop the injustices against them. In the mix of patriarchy and misogyny, women bear the burden of unfair discriminatory practices and policies and responsibility for stopping the abuse and protecting other women. It is worth mentioning that any citizen who feels aggrieved by any perceived breach of women’s or human rights has a constitutional right to appeal to the Zimbabwe Gender Commission and the Human Rights Commission in their own personal capacity. This is better than sitting back and complaining about women and human rights organisations not doing anything.

Many of the complaints against women stem from a deep-seated dislike and contempt for women. Misogyny is a dislike or hatred of women. It is holding contempt or negative attitudes towards women and  generally having an ingrained prejudice against them. It is a very complex phenomenon because due to cultural socialisation even women themselves can be misogynistic.

  • Miriam Tose Majome is a lawyer at Veritas and she writes in her personal capacity