The world is celebrating 16 Days against Gender Based Violence
which is a welcome development. In Zimbabwe issues relating to
Gender Based Violence were domesticated in our Domestic Violence
Act and it is critical for the reader to understand the provisions
of the law regarding Gender Based Violence.
Statistically it has been proven that Covid 19 which resulted in
many people staying at home had caused a spike in GBV. The
following are critical frequently asked questions which the writer
endeavours to tackle in this article.
1. The term Domestic Violence is commonly used but what is the
definition of violence from a GBV standpoint?
GBV includes a range of behaviours which target and are
re-enforced by gender, gender-roles, sexuality and gender
inequality, moreover it can be experienced by men and women
including, rape and sexual assault, female genital mutilation ,
child marriages, physical punishment, intimate partner violence ,
trafficking for sex or slavery as
