Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Special Report 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Gender and Constitutional Issues Women and girls shall not be denied their right to education on the basis of sex, gender, pregnancy, marital status, physical or mental disability or age. Childcare facilities shall be established in schools or training institutions for the benefit of teachers and students with children. Appropriate measures shall be taken to increase the participation of female students in the fields of science and technology. Textbooks should also be revised to avoid gender stereotyping of women. Female students shall be protected from violence, including physical and sexual abuse and harassment, in all schools, universities and training institutions. Sex, human rights and gender education shall be components of the curriculum from primary through secondary school, as well as in skills training and adult education programmes. Gender awareness training shall be included as part of the training of all teachers. The State shall promote the linguistic, literary and cultural integrity of African languages by designating the language of the predominant linguistic group of a region as the primary language of instruction. HEALTH AND REPRODUCTIVE AND SEXUAL RIGHTS The most urgent and devastating health issue in Zimbabwe is the spread of HIV/AIDS. Women, especially poor women, are being infected at an increasing rate because of their disadvantaged political, economic and cultural status. The State and the private sector must collaborate and take aggressive, immediate action in terms of providing: information about sexuality, contraception and Sexually Transmitted Diseases, affordable treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, and free contraception to both women and men, including sexually-active teenagers. However, because general and reproductive health is inseparable from the wider political, socio-economic context, the State must also empower women politically, economically and socially. 1. 2. 3. 4. Women and children have the right to free/affordable, accessible and quality health services, including free/affordable maternal care, pre-natal, labour and post-natal care. Women must have access to reproductive health and family planning services, including the right to information on sexual, reproductive and family planning matters. Health care should be made responsive to the needs of disabled women. Women have the right to control over their bodies and sexuality. Therefore, women have the right to choose their sexual partners, the right to decide on when and how often to have sex and the right to exercise the option to refuse sex even within marital relationships. Women also have the right to decide when and how often they desire to have children. Women and children must be treated with respect and dignity at all health and family planning facilities. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS 1. 2. 3. All international conventions promoting human and women’s rights that have been signed and ratified by the Government of Zimbabwe should be automatically incorporated into domestic law. The Government should educate all people on the content of these international conventions. To facilitate the mass education campaign, the conventions should be translated into all the vernacular languages. The preservation of peace and declaration of war are aspects of international life which affect women profoundly and there should be mechanisms in place to ensure equal representation of women at all levels in any such negotiations. IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISMS The national institutional mechanisms for implementing programmes to promote gender equality and women’s rights and to monitor progress are not yet fully developed. Gender equality is not yet integrated into policies and development programmes and practices at all political, economic, social, private and public institutions. 23