Women of Zimbabwe Arise for a Peaceful Future

When someone you care for goes down the wrong path, the most loving thing to do is to bring them back, kindly but firmly. The concept of “tough love” is one that most people (and all parents) can easily appreciate on a personal level. The activists of the group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) are applying it on a national scale.

Founded in 2003 as a women’s civic movement, the group now includes 35,000 members, both women and men. Their mission is to empower women to take control of their lives and take part in their communities, and they deliver that message by engaging in courageous and creative demonstrations across the country. WOZA recognizes Zimbabwean society’s ills, and its members believe that popular nonviolent struggle is the way to bring about a cure.

The situation in Zimbabwe today makes WOZA’s program for social justice an ambitious undertaking. Zimbabwe is experiencing the highest inflation rates in the world, and amid the economic crisis poverty is rampant. Food shortage has resulted in grave malnourishment, and an HIV/AIDS pandemic currently affects 5.5 million. The life expectancy for women currently stands at 34: the lowest in the world. President and former guerilla leader Robert Mugabe’s totalitarian regime stands accused of election fraud and gross violations of human rights.

The members of WOZA seek to confront these issues head on, and in doing so prove that “the power of love can conquer the love of power”. Though members frequently engage in protests and demonstrations, the movement is crucially strengthened by its constructive element. In 2006, WOZA activists traveled the country and collected conversations with almost ten thousand Zimbabweans on their idea of social justice. These voices, long stifled or ignored, were compiled and expressed in a document called the People’s Charter. The charter acknowledges the nation’s current state of crisis, but approaches it in a powerfully optimistic way. It demands a participatory and accountable government, fair distribution of resources, and a new constitution protecting freedom and equality. Characteristic of WOZA’s enthusiastic commitment to the future, the charter closes with a call to action: “Let all those who love Zimbabwe join hands to turn our dream of social justice into a reality”.

Their hard work has not been without its price. On April 23, fifty-six members demonstrating against the lack of affordable and reliable electricity were arrested outside of the Zimbabwe Electric Supply Authority in Harare. During their custody they were physically assaulted and brutally beaten by police, and three were hospitalized for their wounds. This atrocity comes after the recent physical and psychological abuse of an eighteen-year old activist, punished for bringing food to her fellow workers detained at the police station. But despite the government’s repressive measures, the WOZA activists remain undeterred. By protesting in the face of such threat they seek to expose the true nature of the regime, and in doing so give support to their dream of justice and freedom.

WOZA is an example of the power of the positive in even the most disheartening of situations. Their mission is one of hope, and their strategy incorporates the strong and constructive means needed to achieve such a positive end. In the words of the Peoples’ Charter, “we must not be afraid to believe that we have the right to a brighter future and we have the right to contribute to building it”.

Learn more and support WOZA’s campaigns at: Women of Zimbabwe Arise!