Senator Tambudzayi Mohadi says a lot of people are failing to get justice when they report cases of gender-based violence due to corruption.
Honourable Mohadi who is a former wife to Vice President Kembo Mohadi has been a victim of gender-based violence.
At one time, Senator Mohadi was threatened with an axe by the Vice President.
Speaking in the Senate, Mohadi said some cases of gender-based violence are being swept under the carpet by police office and yet abuse has resulted in death of some people.
“The other problem is that there is a lot of corruption. There are some people who after reporting their cases, do not get the justice that they want. At times, officers of the law are found disadvantaging victims and at the end of the day, such crimes are swept under the carpet. These cases at times, just die a natural death even after being reported.
“Mr President Sir, we know that when we talk about Gender Based Violence, it is important to also talk about its effects like trauma and diseases. Some people become stressed and some end up getting injured; some with permanent injuries and disabilities,” she said.
Mohadi added that “Mr. President Sir, at times we may see that people lose their lives as a result of Gender Based Violence. Some die as a result of being abused. We need to take stern measures and we need to be serious as a government. When people are affected in their lives, they end up losing their sanity and their mental stability because of the trauma that they have failed to handle.
“At the end of the day, this affects their psychological well-being. As we talk about Gender Based Violence, it is important that we understand its severity which at times leads to death. People end up suffering because of that. It is important that after experiencing violence, we report these cases,” she said.
Honourable Mohadi also highlighted that there was need to engage Chiefs, adding that they were not taking issues of gender-based violence as criminal cases.
“Mr. President Sir, forgive me because I am talking about a very emotional issue. Let me end by saying our chiefs and our traditional leadership have ways of containing and ending Gender Based Violence because we need to understand that sometimes people might not take it as a criminal case.
“It is not right that they should be sidelined but they should be engaged and involved in fighting Gender-Based Violence. Some issues might be dealt with within that system without going to the courts.
