Mutoko women suffer abuse at the hands of touts
By Emmanuel Manyati
As you approach the rank terminus in the business hub of Mutoko Centre, you are welcomed by dirty, drunken and hungry looking young men armed with carelessness and fury scrambling for potential passengers for either Mutoko-Nyamapanda or Mutoko-Harare routes.
Some of them attained mouth watering Ordinary and Advanced Level results whilst some of their tout mates are either school dropouts or did not manage to grasp their ordinary level academic concepts in order get the desired grades.
One funny thing is they have some things in common, they (touts) are all visibly angry with bruised faces, they take hard drugs like Bronco, ZED, marijuana etc and I would like to believe that these drugs made them more brave and uncompromising.
With the ongoing rank-terrorism fashion against women in bus terminuses by kombi touts around the country, women in Mutoko have not been spared.
According to an informal study carried out in Mutoko by this reporter, about 85% of women who use public transport have been harassed or abused by kombi touts widely known as mahwindi.
There are wide reports of women being forced to board buses not of their choices, some had their hand bags and other possessions forcibly snatched by touts. Mutoko has experienced innocent and defenceless women being insulted and teased by these touts.
“Harassment of women by touts constitute part and parcel of human rights violations. Women have the right to decide how and when they want to travel without being coerced by rank marshals.
‘The behaviour of these rank touts makes the bus terminus an unsafe place for women and children while at the same time it is the place where they are supposed to get public transport, ” said Matilda Singende a Mutoko based gender activist and also the secretary for Mutoko Gender Forum.
Memory Chivanza, a teacher at a local primary school said that nowadays she is now avoiding going to the rank when looking for transport to her workplace because of the strong language they (touts) shout at women when they try to resist them.
Mai Mahachi a vendor in the rank alluded to the fact that women in Mutoko suffer abuse in the hands of rank touts.
“Mahwindi aya anotishungurudza ufunge ende mapurisa acho hapana zvaanoita kuti dambudziko iri ripere, (these rank touts abuse us and the police is doing nothing about it)” she said.
The protracted lack of respect for women’s rights in rural areas like Mutoko is linked to the history of patriarchy where men grow up in societies where women are regarded as second class citizens.
Resultantly, women have therefore developed a low sense of self worth and this situation is exacerbated by lack of awareness and literacy of their own inalienable constitutional rights.
The new constitution of Zimbabwe states that (SEC 80.1) “every woman has full and equal dignity of the person with men…” but it is very unfortunate that only less than 5% of women in Mutoko are aware of this provision.
