6 had miscarried so her womb was cleaned and she spent a week in hospital before being discharged. Women from locations visited by Amnesty International relayed similar experiences. Amnesty International observed that the Zimbabwean women human rights defenders were motivated to become activists in order to demand changes to government laws and policies that cause and exacerbate their daily hardship in obtaining food, and gaining access to healthcare and education for their families. All these have become increasingly unaffordable to most households. Denial of access to subsidised maize in rural areas We cannot afford to continue to feed the enemy because they are sell outs. Chief Fortune Charumbira, President of the Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs, January 2007 The government of Zimbabwe has permitted discriminatory distribution of maize in the rural areas as part of its strategy to retain its political support base since the emergence of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).(32) Over the last seven years, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) politicians have used maize sold through the state-owned Grain Marketing Board (GMB) as a tool to silence perceived opponents.(33) In order to buy maize from the GMB, needy households in rural areas are registered at the local level. The registration process is conducted by councillors who are, in the majority of cases, members of ZANU-PF. These councillors omit names of perceived and known MDC supporters, reportedly stating that the "government should not be feeding its enemies." Women human rights defenders have been labelled MDC supporters and are also discriminated against in the sale of GMB maize. Amnesty International interviewed women human rights defenders who were excluded from buying maize from the GMB because they belong to human rights organizations or speak out against discrimination and other human rights violations in their communities. The decisions of the local ruling party officials are rarely challenged. People who do challenge them are often threatened with being beaten or evicted from their homesteads. In Matabeleland South province, several WOZA members told Amnesty International they had been informed by local ruling party officials that they cannot buy GMB maize because they belong to an organization which criticizes the ZANU-PF government. In February 2007, Amnesty International spoke to 15 women from one district who had been stopped from buying GMB maize in 2002. Only four of the women were eventually allowed to buy the subsidized maize, after appealing to the local chief of the area who acted as a mediator. Case studies Eleven women targeted since 2002 Thami is a 45-year-old member of WOZA from Matabeleland Province. In 2002 she and 14 other women were blocked from buying GMB maize on the grounds that they were suspected to be supporters of the MDC. Thami mobilized some of the women who were affected, and approached the local chief to demand access to GMB maize. Prior to going to the chief, the women had lodged a complaint with the police, who refused to intervene. The village head and his secretary were summoned by the chief. The village head reportedly admitted to the chief that he had been given instructions by ZANU-PF officials not to allow opposition supporters to buy maize from the GMB. The chief could not help the women. On returning from the chief’s court, Thami was summoned to a community meeting where she was accused of making the police report and making false accusations against ZANU-PF officials. When Amnesty International spoke to Thami in February 2007 she was still not being allowed to buy GMB maize. Four of her colleagues were later allowed to buy the maize. Protester charged with "being disrespectful to men" Clara is a 60-year-old widow from Chivi district in Masvingo province. She is a member of the Women’s Coalition, a national women’s human rights organization. In 2003 Clara spoke out at a community meeting to challenge discrimination against perceived supporters of opposition parties in the distribution of GMB maize in her village.(34) Local ZANU-PF officials accused her of being a member of the MDC – an accusation which put her at risk of being assaulted, abducted or even killed by war veterans and ZANU-PF youth militia.(35) Clara was also summoned to the chief’s court and was accused of "being disrespectful to men" – a charge grounded in pervasive gender stereotypes according to which women should not challenge men and women may have no say in public life. In August 2006, the chief’s court found Clara "guilty of being disrespectful to men" and she was fined a goat. She refused to pay because she did not accept that she had committed any offence and told her accusers that the "charge" had no basis. By February 2007 Clara was