The survey released by Mulago hospital in Kampala, the US-based Guttmacher Institute and the Centre of Health, Human Rights and Development, found 26% of all maternal deaths to result from unsafe abortions. It also found that on average Ugandan women wish they had at least two children less, a phenomenon known as ‘excess fertility’.

The results were unveiled by Dr Kiggundu Charles, a consultant gynecologist at Mulago hospital, who told a fully- packed press conference: “Probably half of all of you seated in front of me today were not intended by your parents.’’

The survey, based on an analysis of Uganda’s 2011 Demographic and Health Survey, found Ugandan women are giving birth to an average of 6.7 children each. This is high even by Sub-Saharan African standards.

Essentially, at the centre of the millions of unintended pregnancies in Uganda is the issue of contraception. Only an estimated 25% of women in Uganda have access to a modern contraception method, which points to a staggering lack of access to modern and safe contraception. One in three married women in Uganda have an unmet need for contraception according to the survey results.

Clearly, investing in increasing access to family planning and contraception for women of reproductive age would save the country phenomenal sums currently spent on treating post abortion complications. Fewer births would also mean families would have fewer mouths to feed and educate, and it would be kinder for the environment. If Ugandan women had their wish and had two less children than they currently have, gains in per capita income would be made and a better quality of life achieved for millions of Ugandans.

It emerged at the meeting that myths and misconceptions about modern contraception methods, such as the perception that they can cause cancer and fibroid problems, are widespread. This creates another barrier to utilising contraception for Ugandan women.

‘’The traditional medicine men have hijacked contraception education. There are several programmes on local radio and television stations that are misinforming many women on safe contraception in preference for crude, riskier methods,” said Dr Zainab Akol of the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Akol said he regretted the current situation in which Uganda’s medical profession has conceded ground to ‘medicine men’ when it comes to supplying information on contraception. He added that many rural and uneducated women only have access to inaccurate advice from traditional medicine men when making decisions on birth control and family planning.

‘’Unsafe abortion and contraception are human rights, public health, legal and moral issues in Uganda that must be addressed,’’ said Moses Mulumba, head of the Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development.

Professor Ben Twinomugisha, Dean of the School of Law at Makerere University, emphasised that human beings have a right to enjoy sex and that, when debating issues surrounding abortion, “the woman should be at the centre” of the debate.

Other research carried out by the Guttmacher Institute found a co-relation between restrictive laws on birth control and increased abortion. Countries that have a liberal stance on birth control, such as many in Europe, have fewer deaths from unsafe abortions and spend less on post abortion complications.

Dr Mugisha’s results show that Uganda spends about 4.7% of the national health budget on post abortion complications – money that could be used to treat other conditions were the number of unintended pregnancies to fall.

Annociata Kampaire, head of Alliance for Integrated Development and Empowerment, called for the legalisation of abortion in Uganda, which according to Article 22 of the Uganda constitution is illegal except under strict conditions defined by the law.

Uganda is a conservative country and Prof Twinomugisha reminded those present that the religious and conservative lobby defeated attempts to legalise abortion in the Kenyan constitution of 2010. He called for a human rights-based approach to the debate on contraception and abortion in Uganda but emphasised that both sides of the spectrum – a woman’s right to access safe abortion and a woman’s right to continue with an unintended pregnancy on religious and moral grounds – should be equally respected.

‘’Unintended pregnancy is the root cause of most abortions, and the injuries and deaths that often follow. Providing better family planning services would dramatically improve maternal health in Uganda,” Mulumba added.

“Sexual violence is one of the biggest barriers to building peace and security”, says Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams from the USA, who is the co-chair of the International Campaign to Stop Rap and Gender Violence in Conflict. “Until we commit to ending rape and other forms of gender-based violence we are not going to be able to build healthy and safe communities that contribute to economic development and empower women and girls to reach their full potential.”

The meeting of heads of state during the 20th African Union summit began yesterday in the Ethiopian capital and continues today (January 27 and 28). Much of the summit will focus on recent surges in violence including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the continuing border dispute between Sudan and South Sudan and the recent war in Mali. Rape is a common feature of the conflicts in both Sudan and Mali, as well in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries in Africa. Some post-conflict countries, such as Liberia, struggle with rape as an on-going and daily reality for women.

A delegation of 25 campaign members from across the continent led by Ms. Williams have gathered in Addis Ababa ahead of the Summit to highlight the need for African leaders to take leadership in stopping rape in conflict. The campaign is calling on the African Union to act collectively and is also encouraging member states to take up their own initiatives to prevent rape, protect citizens, and prosecute those responsible for sexual violence.

“We hear many promises from our leaders about the importance of ending violence against women. These politicians are now facing a choice —choose to act or ignore commitments”, said Pauline Kamau, executive director of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya.

“Our leaders must show leadership and prove they have the future well-being of Africa and African women in mind.”

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, women are once again on the frontlines of violence as the M23 rebellion threatens the east. The number of women and girls being attacked is spiking while the region argues over a military intervention.

Kenya is due to hold elections in March and many fear that post-election violence, which broke out in 2007 and 2008, will once again surface. Accounts of some attacks are already being reported. They tend to be ethnically motivated and target women first.

The civil war in Mali is a direct threat to women’s safety and security, with women again being targeted for sexual violence. As Malian women move into neighbouring countries as refugees they are vulnerable to sexual assault in refugee camps.

On this historic occasion of the 20th Summit it is time for the African Union to bring real change to women at the grassroots level. Women’s protection must be at the forefront of the agenda and the African Union must hold member states accountable for the security of their own populations.

The campaign calls on every head of state taking part at the AU Summit to take leadership to stop rape in conflict—within their own country, within their region, and the continent.

While the rest of the world joined hands in commemorating 16 days of activism against gender based violence at the end of last year, the Zimbabwean government went a step further by calling for 365 days against such barbaric acts against women and girls.

But reality tells a different story. In rural Buhera, about 300 kilometres southeast of the capital Harare, many women are living in very difficult situations where domestic violence has become their daily bread. A recent visit to the area found most women interviewed saying that hunger is the major cause of domestic violence in this district.

Tsitsi Wasara, who is living with HIV, says her situation and that of other women is very bad. “Discrimination in this area is still rampant and most of the people here are still in denial. To make matters worse there is a lot of food shortages and arguments, leading to domestic fights between husband and wife; [it] is the order of the day. If men had something to do in the fields the situation could have been different.”

Her sentiments were echoed by fellow villager Irene Bepura. She says if the area could receive enough rainfall men would spend most of their time in the field producing for their families and the situation would be different.

“My husband does not go to work and most of the time we argue about the quantity of food to be cooked and the end result is fighting in front of the children,” says Irene.

Irene is a member of a support group which gets help from a non governmental organisation that supports women facing domestic violence, the Musasa Project Zimbabwe. As members of the group, Irene and her peers educate each other and share information about domestic violence.

“We encourage each and every women to be involved in income generating project such as poultry and gardening to supplement the little harvest that is coming from our fields. If both the wife and husband become productive it saves a lot of [bad] situations here,” says Irene.

Villager Yamurai Mamombe believes the programmes that the Musasa Project carry out are brining down cases of domestic violence.

“In my village most men spend most of their time drinking home brewed beer, which is so cheap, because they don’t have anything to do most of the time. But thumbs-up to programmes that are being carried out by organisations such as Musasa, where most women are trained and given information about domestic violence and how best it can be avoided, and most men have accepted it as well hence this has brought love in many families,” said Yamurai.

As hunger tolls in Buhera, villagers often end up selling their livestock and other valuable assets in order to sustain their families.

Village headman Mutangi Tarwira Mundawarara said: “We did not get or harvest anything in the previous season; the rains disappeared when the maize was at tussling stage and my villagers ended up travelling to far areas where they buy a maize bucket for $3 because locally it is being sold at $7 to $8.”

Zimbabwe expected to harvest 1 million tones of maize in the 2011/12 cropping season, a decline in output from previous years of 33%. The nation requires 1,384,000 tonnes of grain for human consumption and 350,000 tonnes for livestock and other uses and the shortfall leaves the country with a deficit of nearly 1 million tonnes. Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the deficit will be covered by the country’s grain reserves of 500,000 tonnes plus imports from Zambia and the donor community. This will guarantee the country enough food for 2013.

The Musasa Project was established in May 1988 due to growing concern about the high levels of violence women were facing, particularly in domestic settings, and the lack of support for women. Musasa responds to all forms of trauma experienced by women at the hands of male perpetrators and provides temporary places of safety for women who are in crisis. As well as helping local support groups it trains women to become counsellors so they are better able to support other women experiencing domestic violence.

The Indian ambassador to Zimbabwe has said there is a need to change the mindset of men the world over so as to stop violence and rape against women.

Ambassador Jeiteendra Tripath made the comments during a memorial service held in Harare for the Indian woman who died after being gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi.

“The only weapon that can fight against this brutality is to change the thinking of men in every country so that women can feel safe everywhere they are,” said Ambassador Tripath.

Jessie Majome, deputy minister of women affairs, gender and community development, said there was a need to protect young women especially as they are more likely to be victims of rape. She added that it was befitting for Zimbabwe to hold such a memorial so as to send a clear message that rape not only violates women’s rights in India but the whole world.

Various young women who spoke at the memorial condemned the Indian gang and other men who perpetrate violence and rape against women. They called upon the United Nations and governments to enact laws and policies that better protect women and deal with perpetrators in a way that sends a clear message to men.

Many women present were angry at the Zimbabwean authorities for enacting laws that send livestock thieves to jail longer than rapists.

“If one steals a cow in this country he is sentenced to more than ten years in jail but a rapist is given less than five years, probably because these laws were enacted by men who are incidentally the majority in the August house,” said Beatrice Savadye.

An Indian woman was gang-rape aboard a bus in New Delhi that spawned mass protests in Indian. She later died from her injuries.

The memorial service was held the in Indian ambassador offices and attended by various young women from organisations such as Tag a Life, Young Women First, Source International, Young Women 4 Real. It was organised by SAfAIDS Zimbabwe.

During the Mozambique Community Radios National Forum international conference in Maputo on Monday (December 3), Lidia Chongo, Mozambique’s deputy national director for public health, said child mortality statistics in Mozambique were very pleasing but mother mortality rates left much to be desired.

“The government set mother and child health on the top of its agenda and there is great political will but illiteracy levels need to be addressed as a woman who is not educated won’t know how to prevent herself from HIV/AIDS [and] can’t understand child health issues. We also see a lot of early pregnancies; a situation which leaves us with a lot of babies having babies,” Chongo said.

Chongo said a lot of women in Mozambique who have complications leading death during child delivery are poor.

She added that abortions in Mozambique also contribute to the high mortality rate as they were done in very poor hygienic environments, putting women at risk of potentially fatal infections.

“[Deaths from] post delivery haemorrhage may be due to malaria and HIV, however abortions are done in very bad health conditions so infections derived from these can set in, and the abortions done in these conditions account for [one in] 10 cases of admissions, out of which 11% of women die,” she said.

Chongo added that there was also a bad traditional practice in Mozambique in which women who have complications during child delivery are forced to admit infidelity.

Ericino de Salema, a lawyer, journalist and programme director at IBIS, said many Mozambicans in rural areas were not accessing information due to a lack of radio reception and caused laughter when he added that many still believe Samora Machel [President of Mozambique who died in 1986] is still alive.

“We are satisfied with the outcome of the recommendations as they speak to the immediate and long term solutions. We are also satisfied with the openness – talking [about] all aspect of rape and sexual violence – and I think for me it’s important that we have broken the culture of silence, especially among women.”

These where the words of Netty Musanhu, the director of Musasa Project, an Zimbabwe organisation for women facing gender based violence, at a just ended two-day conference held in Harare.

The objective of the conference was to raise the issues of rape and sexual violence against women and girls onto the national agenda. The two day conference was attended by women from various organisations, traditional chiefs, different government departments and delegates from outside Zimbabwe.

“As we move towards referendum and elections we have seen cases of violence going up, so what we are trying to do is call upon policy makers to ensure that they put in place mechanisms of protection and prevention, and just tell people out there that any form of violence against women has no place in Zimbabwe,” Musanhu said.

Musanhu said she was “happy with the commitment…from traditional leaders who graced this conference as they have made a promise to speak about any form of violence against women so that they will have violent free communities.”

Women from Kenya shared their experiences and advised how Zimbabwean women can take advantage of constitutional reform process to ensure that issues of safety and security for women are in the draft constitution. They also offered strategies as to how women can respond to and prevent sexual violence. Musasa particularly praised Atsango Chesoni from Kenya’s Human Rights Commission for sharing many examples of what has occurred in Kenya, which she said could be used in Zimbabwe “so that women [can] live in a violence free environment.”

The gathering also identified gaps at the attorney general’s office, especially the challenges they are facing in dealing with cases that involve women such as shortages of work force and the time trials can take.

Netherlands ambassador Barbara Joziasse described the conference as “a historic moment for women in Zimbabwe as the silence has been broken.”

She added: “Sexual violence is now on the agenda. The government and non-governmental organisation institutions… political parties and civil societies were all involved, and agreed that sexual violence against women is a problem. So acknowledging that fact was very important and a task force has been set as one of the way forwards.”

Joziasse added that conference delegates have agreed that awareness of sexual violence should be in the school curriculum as a topic at both the primary and secondary school level so that children can be more aware of it.

Before the conference, Musasa project held a three day gender fair at Harare’s Africa Unity Square where various organisations exhibited support services relating to gender based violence (GBV) to provide an opportunity for close interaction between communities and GBV organisations.

This year’s 16 Days of Activism Against GBV are being commemorated under the theme From peace in the home to peace in our communities.

The increasing number of domestic violence is a wakeup call for every Zimbabwean citizen to do something in their communities. Information gathered for 2012 shows that more than 1,500 domestic abuse cases were reported to the Musasa Project alone.

Musasa Project is a non-governmental women’s human rights organization that assists about 3,000 women victims of domestic and sexual violence and women living with HIV.

The Musasa Project is involved in numerous complementary activities to address violence against women. It provides counselling, legal support and refuge to women experiencing violence. The Project conducts public education to raise awareness about domestic and sexual violence. The organisation was founded in 1988 by two women concerned about the long-standing problem of sexual and domestic assault in Zimbabwe.

Giving an update on gender based violence in Zambia’s Southern Province, Deputy Police Commissioner Fred Mutondo said: “We have recorded 505 cases of gender based violence out of which only one man is the victim. Of these 505, 192 have gone to court, 200 have been withdrawn by complainants while the rest have not been followed up by the victims.”

He urged victims of gender based violence not to withdraw cases as this creates a vicious circle as the perpetrators continue committing the same crime over and over.

Stephanie Maseka from the Non Governmental Organizations Coordinating Council (NGOCC), reading a speech on behalf of Southern Province NGOCC Liaison Officer Faith Simukoko, appealed to the government to expedite the creation of district attorneys’ offices. NGOCC also calling for the establishment of gender based violence fast track courts and an increase of sentencing powers for magistrates to help increase clearance of court cases without having to refer them to the High Court.

By the time Southern Province deputy permanent secretary Alfred Chiingi read the official speech only half of the women who had initially gathered at the eventremained.

The institutions present were the Zambia police, Zambia Air Force, the prison service, the Zambia Revenue Authority, Ministry of Community Development, Cabinet Office, Zambia education, David Livingstone College of Education, Livingstone City Council and the Patriotic Front.

He added that several cases have been reported where both women and men who are disabled have been victims of abuse from partners but due to lack of a voice such cases were being swept under the carpet.

“As we celebrate the 16 days of activism against gender based violence we are appealing to the government through the Minister for Gender and Home Affairs to initiate a deliberate policy to educate the disabled…We have reported cases of able bodied wives whipping their blind husbands, even men in wheelchairs are [being] harassed and pushed around in anger and yet society remains silent,” Mulenga said.

“We need a lot of sensitization materials to be produced in Braille for us who are blind and we want the police to make sure that cases involving disabled people are taken seriously as the law does not distinguish who was more victim than the other when violence occurs between the disabled and the able bodied,” he added.

Commenting on President Michael Sata’s interaction with disabled children at the University Teaching Hospital, which occurred yesterday (November 22) when he made an impromptu visit to the institution to check on the water situation, Mulenga described the President as “having a passion” to support people with disabilities.

“He has passion for us and has brought us closer to government making decisions by even making one of us a director at the Food Reserve Agency. It was only during the era of Dr Kenneth Kaunda when a head of state interacted with disabled children,” Mulenga added.

As the eyes of the world turn to the issue of gender based violence now is a great time to post stories on this topic.

This year’s campaign takes the theme From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!

The sub-themes of the campaign are:

• Sexual and gender-based violence committed by state agents, particularly the police or military
• Proliferation of small arms and their role in domestic violence
• Sexual violence in and after conflict

Events are also going on all over the world to mark the 16 days, which may also make interesting stories. For more information about what is happening in your area, click here.

When the Domestic Violence Act came into being in 2007 it was held as one of the most progressive laws for the advancement of women in the fight against domestic violence in Zimbabwe.

However, five years later progress is slow.

Police, speaking at a meeting organised by different communities such as Epworth, Chitungwiza and Mutoko, say it has become difficult for them to purse domestic violence cases as many are withdrawn by women before they go to court.

“We have failed to get a conviction of a single case as most women come the following morning pleading with us not to take their husbands or boyfriends to court, for various reasons such as ‘Who will look after me if my husband is convicted?’,” a police officer from Epworth said.

The economic meltdown of the  Zimbabwean economy has affected many women who are now financially dependent on their husbands as the sole breadwinner. This leaves some vulnerable to abuse.

The situation is not helped by the view taken by some police officials that domestic violence is a ‘private’ matter. Sometimes, this attitude will see law enforcement agents breach the Domestic Violence Act as they frequently decline to listen to complaints, investigate cases or ensure women are aware of the legal remedies at their disposal.

Women face many obstacles in filing reports of rape in Zimbabwe. Many police stations are not prepared to handle properly the investigation of such cases. In addition, women are reluctant to file reports because of the social stigma of rape.

Nakai Nengomasha of Padare/Enkundleni/Men’s Forums, which organised the event, said the forums aim to educate communities about the gender issues that affect them daily.

“Members of the communities are responding well although quite a lot still needs to be done as we move towards achieving the millennium development goals in Zimbabwe. Our slogan is ‘men of quality are not afraid of equality.’”

One major issue to come out of the debate was about the custom of the ‘lobola’, a dowry paid by the bridegroom to the father of the bride. This has been found to play a significant role in perpetuating the ill treatment of women in Zimbabwe as a man who has ‘bought’ his wife may think he can treat her as he pleases.