IN Zimbabwe, violence against women and girls has been widely discussed, but sadly the statistics of rape cases are shocking.
According to records by Msasa Project,

a group that provides counseling and temporary shelter to women survivors of domestic violence, on average 300 cases of violence against women are recorded monthly.

Msasa Project director Netty Musanhu said 25% of women and girls in Zimbabwe experienced gender-based violence. She said relatives, neighbours and trusted people like pastors and teachers were the main perpetrators.

Former Women’s Affairs minister Oppah Muchinguri said during the months from June to October last year, 4 379 cases of rape were reported, of which 3 046 were committed by juveniles. She, however, said many cases went unreported.

German non-governmental organization Konrad Adenauer Foundation recently released a report on gender behaviour in modern society at a workshop in Harare.

They documented heart-wrecking stories of girls that had been raped and how it affected their lives.

“The media ought to be sensitive to necessitate zero tolerance of rape and violence against women,” she urged.

World trends also prove that a lot still has to be done to achieve a safe environment for women with England and Wales reportedly recording 85 000 women rape cases every year, while in Denmark one in five women has experienced a sexual assault.

In India’s a 1,2 billion population, rape occurs every 20 minutes.