First Lady Grace Mugabe’s penchant to cross the line each time she is given a platform to address people is now legendary, but on Friday she went too far and her thoughtless attempt to justify sexual abuse against women was unacceptable.
Standard Comment
President Robert Mugabe’s wife told a Zanu PF rally in Mberengwa that women who wear miniskirts should not complain if they are raped.
She said it would be the fault of the victims if they were sexually violated after walking around putting on miniskirts.
Zimbabwe records an embarrassingly high number of rape cases every year and Grace is one of the most prominent people that have spoken forcefully against the scourge.
According to Msasa Project, a non-governmental organisation that provides counselling and temporary shelter to female survivors of domestic violence, on average 300 cases of violence against women are reported every month.
In April, former Women’s Affairs minister Oppah Muchinguri said between June and October last year, 4 379 cases of rape were reported in Zimbabwe. It is acknowledged that many rape cases go unreported for various reasons.
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Grace has in the past gone to the extent of demanding that rapists must be castrated. Her outrage was understandable given the perverse nature of the crime.
Society at times appears to encourage the abuse of women through certain cultural norms that have no place in the modern world and it is the duty of opinion leaders to speak out against such vile practices.
Grace as the leader of the ruling party’s women wing and in her ceremonial role of being the First Lady, is duty bound to send the correct message, that rape is a heinous crime that cannot be accepted under any circumstances. Therefore, her previous stance was in line with her role in society.
However, the First Lady on Friday, undid all the good work when she called on women to wear long dresses or trousers to avoid being raped. She claimed the type of dressing, which left women’s legs exposed, was as a result of moral decadence. In that moment of madness, Grace took the battle to free women from patriarchal bondage several steps back.
In Harare cases of street urchins and touts undressing woman wearing miniskirts are rife.
They are likely to be encouraged to continue with their criminal activities because the president’s wife has declared that they are within their bounds to sexually abuse women because of the alleged provocation.
Women’s organisations and other activists should not take these statements lying down because if they do so, it would be a disservice to rape victims.
Pressure should be piled on Grace until she retracts her disgraceful statements.
Instead of pontificating about morals, the First Lady should be working tirelessly to address the root cause of Zimbabwe’s high number of rape cases.
The damage she has done will take a lot to be undone and going forward, the First Lady’s handlers should take particular interest on what she intends to say in public because it is clear that she is not only a danger to herself, but to the country’s social fabric.
All her rallies are televised live and, therefore, she cannot be censored.
There is no doubt that Grace aspires to succeed her husband and her influence cannot be underestimated, hence the need for her to choose her words carefully.
