40 In Their Capacity as Human Rights Defenders: Women asked what motivates her, she saus “what spurs me on is a heightened sense of injustice, and the firm belief that the coercive power of the state should only be used to protect all its citizens, and not just a select few.” As a result of the work Chinowawa has done, the Constitutional Court has issued judgments mandating a more dignified system of detention for female detainees, while the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has urged the Zimbabwean government to extend the right to participate in political processes to Zimbabweans based abroad. Blessing Gorejena is a human rights lawyer and currently the Projects Co-ordinator at Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum. For the past decade, Gorejena has been pursuing perpetrators of torture and other heinous human rights abuses through every legal channel available. Since joining the Forum in 2004, she has been fighting impunity by litigating against perpetrators of human rights violations in local and regional courts. Gorejena has successfully raised attention to the Zimbabwean situation internationally through litigation and engagement at forums such as African Union meetings, the SADC Tribunal, the African Commission on Human and People’s and the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review of Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, she travels extensively across the country to raise awareness on the Constitution and human rights, as well as to engage with diverse key stakeholders such as the government ministries, parliament, the judiciary and the police. The organisation she works for is a regular target of state harassment and Gorejena acknowledges she sometimes fears for her safety: “Our work brings tension because government is not appreciative of what we do. But hearing the testimonies of people like Jestina Mukoko and Beatrice Mtetwa; the way they have remained unshaken in their work despite the kidnapping, torture and imprisonment they have gone through, gives me strength.” Connie Nawaigo-Zhuwarara is the Project Manager at Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. She has been involved in human rights and gender work for the past 12 years in both Uganda and Zimbabwe. Through her work Nawaigo-Zhuwarara has pushed for gender equality and the promotion and protection of human rights. “My continued involvement in human rights has been motivated by a simple realisation that it is possible to contribute meaningfully toward the realisation of women’s rights in Zimbabwe. I have actively been participating in fostering the reform, change and transformation seriously needed in the area of gender and rights in Zimbabwe. I have also advocated for gender equality in the SADC region when serving in the gender committee of the SADC Lawyers Association,” says NawaigoZhuwarara. She has worked in the field of human rights for a considerable time and has been involved in human rights training, in Zimbabwe and the wider SADC region under the auspices of both ZLHR and the SADC Lawyers’ Association. She is currently involved in work around human rights in the region, including carrying out a needs assessment research on challenges and inequalities faced by women in the legal profession. Nawaigo-Zhuwarara has also been involved in various community development initiatives in which she is a strong advocate for the development and enhancement of women’s social entrepreneurship with the aim of improving women’s rural livelihoods. Irene Petras is the Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights – a position she has held since January 2008. Prior to joining ZLHR, Petras, a lawyer by profession, spent several years working for a leading human rights law firm in Harare. This was when her passion for human rights promotion and protection was stirred, through interaction with leading human rights lawyers and rights activists who were represented by the law firm. Her