“My name is Bubotu Mwiinde. I have been visiting the safe space in my community for a while and it has saved my life. Being at the safe space for just a few hours and meeting with other young wives who have similar experiences allows me to escape my own situation. For those few hours, we talk and share with other women, I now have a support system and a sisterhood, all because of the safe space.”
Within the response to the protracted drought crisis in 2020, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with support from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) supported the establishment of safe spaces for women and girls in 9 drought most affected districts.
Bubotu was married at an early age. ‘I missed out on my childhood. I rushed into marriage, it seemed to be the only solution”, she cried.
The family’s source of income was from earnings from menial jobs in people’s farms in exchange for food but because of the drought and two consecutive bad harvests, this was no longer possible. The whole area had been so hard hit by the drought that even cattle died every day from hunger and thirst leaving Bubotu and her husband without a source of income or food.
Now with young children to take care of, a jobless husband and the brutal drought that made the family go for days with light porridge only to sustain them, her husband turned to alcohol. That is when all the emotional and physical abuse began. Having failed to both till his own land and to provide menial labour in his neighbours’ few thriving fields, violence became his way of responding to any issues related to the welfare of his family.
“It all started with a few claps here and there until it morphed into full blown fist fights every time I complained about the lack of food for the children. I have suffered two miscarriages in the hands of the man who was supposed to love and protect me.”
Bubotu is one of the many girls who are pushed into early marriages due to drought induced poverty. Desperate families withdraw girls from school and marry them off with the expectation of sustained support (food in particular), by the in-laws. This, however, was not so in Bubotu’s case, as her husband and his family were also struggling to put food on the table.
In Binga, the district where Bubuto lives, UNFPA with support from its implementing partners established five safe spaces. The safe spaces provided psycho-social support, while facilitating access to information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, GBV risk mitigation and referral pathways, through the support of the community-based mentors that manage the spaces. In some cases, women and girls accessing the spaces also received dignity kits, as an immediate GBV mitigation strategy.
In view of the reduced mobility of survivors during the COVID-19 lockdown, UNFPA promoted access to services through a de-centralization mechanism. This included setting up an increased number of safe spaces in the target districts, more so in remote and hard to reach areas, therefore facilitating easier access to information and services.
“I am grateful to the safe space, I have learnt new skills and how to contribute to my household finances so as to reduce tensions in the house. From the onset of the dry spell, hunger and poverty have been the source of most of the abuse that I have experienced. The inflow of finances from the safe space activities and counselling from church leaders and the mentor have helped mend my relationship with my husband and in-laws.”
Women and girls’ safe spaces provide an environment for women to interact, share experiences and create support networks within their communities. They were created by the communities, tailored along the identified specific needs of each particular community. Women like Bubotu gained life-skills through these safe spaces. The group of women she convened with took up the goat rearing project where they produced goat milk for self-sustenance and for barter trade with other basic necessities. From the proceeds, they initiated Village savings and lending schemes to boost their finances. Safe spaces also work as entry points for GBV survivors, and facilitate GBV service referrals, in close collaboration with the mobile One Stop Centers teams, also funded under CERF.
Safe spaces have proven effective to mitigate the impact of the crisis in Zimbabwe drought affected areas, and to mitigate the specific risks to which women and girls are exposed.
“These dry spells have not made things easy. Marriages and families are falling apart because of the tensions generated by the droughts, and the consequent lack of income sources. But the safe spaces have been a haven for the young women and girls who have been fortunate enough to receive such amazing support.” says Knowlegde Mpande, the safe space mentor of Sinampande ward, Binga.
