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Welcome to the archives of News Deeply’s Women & Girls Hub. While we paused regular publication of the site on January 22, 2018, and transitioned our coverage to Women’s Advancement Deeply, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on the Arctic. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
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Sally Nyakanyanga is an independent journalist based in Zimbabwe focusing on gender equality, human rights, development/humanitarian stories and bilateral trade between Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe. She has written for Irin News, Africa Renewal, Scidev.net, ChinAfrica magazine, and the Mail and Guardian “Voice of Africa” online publication. She is also a 2016 fellow for International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) Africa Great Lakes Region Reporting Initiative.
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When they get their periods, many girls in Zimbabwe skip school or drop out; others resort to exchanging sex for sanitary pads. The government and NGOs hope that giving girls free or affordable pads will stop puberty from derailing their education and childhoods.
At clinics around the country, women trained as community health workers sit on benches under trees and offer free counseling to people struggling with mental health issues. One study shows that these Friendship Benches work better than conventional treatments.
In Zimbabwe, several projects are bringing electricity to rural clinics, revolutionizing childbirth for local mothers, who previously had to provide their own candles or kerosene lamps.
Rights activists are calling for Zimbabwe’s government to withdraw a proof of residence requirement for anyone who wants to register to vote, saying it disenfranchises thousands of women who don’t have permanent addresses or property of their own.
As Zimbabwe looks ahead to a general election in 2018, women – especially those under 35 – still struggle for equal representation in decision-making and politics. One group is working to get more young women on the ballot and into the voting booth.
The majority of female students in higher education in Zimbabwe report having been sexually harassed, usually by teachers or non-academic staff. One NGO offers these young women a safe place to stay and the support they need to carry on with their education.
As the first South African to win the prestigious Nuffield Agricultural Scholarship, Thato Moagi is shattering the stereotypes of what it means to be a young black woman and a female African farmer.
Around 70 percent of street sellers in Zimbabwe are women, struggling to support their families in the face of continuous police raids against unlicensed trade. But advocates say local authorities should be working to support women vendors, not running them off.
As Zimbabwe tries to curb its high levels of gender-based violence, advocates say that services and systems aimed at helping abuse victims are failing to recognize the specific needs of women and girls with disabilities.
In rural Zimbabwe, food aid is supposed to be distributed according to need. But rights advocates say some village heads are keeping rations from people – mainly women – who don’t support the ruling party.
A recent case has shed light on the number of young women being trafficked from Zimbabwe to Kuwait. One woman tells of how, desperate for work, she ended up being sold to a family and trapped in a cycle of exploitation and abuse.
With Uganda suffering through climate change-related drought, flooding and unpredictable weather, women take on most of the work to keep their families fed. But lack of land rights means they reap few benefits.
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