Women Human Rights Defenders in Zimbabwe 5 § The right to dignity of HRDs is violated when they are detained in conditions that are regarded as cruel, inhuman and degrading. In particular, women HRDs continue to be denied their dignity in police detention facilities where they are not afforded sanitary conditions, including the ability to shower or bath, wear or change their undergarments, and they are denied other basic necessities such as access to hygiene products such as sanitary pads. § Denial of pre-trial rights, such as the right to access legal representation of one’s choice, due to administrative actions and other practices of state and non-state actors continues, despite their constitutional guarantee. For women HRDs, it is not just about accessing lawyers, but also about receiving assurance that they have representation to guarantee their release so that they can go back to attend to their gendered role or nurturing their families. § Threats to the right to fair trial for HRDs due to lack of resourcing of the justice sector and the poor conditions of service of public prosecutors, magistrates and other court officials may lead to lack of insulation of women HRDs from political and other manipulation and miscarriages of justice. A positive outcome in cases where women HRDs are targeted can be elusive, due to the lack of institutional and individual independence of the justice delivery system, and can be heightened due to the stereotypes and perceptions of women HRDs by justice sector actors. In some cases, the victims of prosecutions have actually been women in the prosecutorial and judicial sector. There is a reported case of a female prosecutor who was targeted and arrested whilst conducting her professional duties. This case is highlighted in more detail in Chapter 3. § Continued violation of freedoms of assembly, association, expression and movement due to acts of omission and commission of state and non-state actors, who include but are not limited to the police, political figureheads and other citizens, are experienced. Illegal policy directives and other administrative practices are also utilised from time to time to curtail the operations of HRDs. Other administrative practices that are fuelled by patriarchy include the refusal to issue identity documents or even travel documents to women who want to act independently of the men who are supposed to “own” them, despite constitutional protections. § Violations of privacy rights may occur through unjustified searches of the person of HRDs and their premises and seizure of their property by state actors under the guise of investigating purported offences. With women HRDs, such violations can become very intimate. § Hate speech and other forms of abuse through the publicly owned but state-controlled print and electronic media can compromise the safety of HRDs. Character assassination for women HRDs is often escalated by the extreme hatred presented by men and sometimes other women. She will be called “man”, or “pretending to be a man” as if she does not know her real role in society. She should be relegated to the kitchen, or simply go back to being a “full-time house technician”. § Threats to security of the person for HRDs are also exacerbated by acts of political violence and intolerance. For women HRDs security becomes even more compromised, as they are at risk of rape and other sexual or gender based violence.