45 year old Memory (not her real name) of Sigodini Village in Matopo District (Zimbabwe) has a physical disability. She was beaten and driven out of her home by her son, who had come back from South Africa, claiming ownership of the homestead, which he now stays in with two younger siblings. Memory has experienced emotional, physical as well as psychological abuses. There is also symbolic violence in the fact that even though minor at the time of obtaining the family property from the Village Head, everything she owns was registered under her son’s name (because of his gender). In rural settings, which are largely patriarchal, the village elders are supporting her son regardless of the fact that the mother was physically assaulted leading to heightened stress. They say the son as a man is the head of the family now and thus owns everything.
veritaswomen
It is an interactive forum to discuss and to promote awareness of women’s rights and the status of women in Zimbabwe and to foster gender equity.
