m a ppi n g wo m en ’s n eeDs i n Zi m ba bw e’s nat i o na l h e a l i n g pr o ce ss often vividly express the gendered injustices and structural inequalities that perpetuate the marginalisation and disempowerment of women. The problem with national healing in Zimbabwe is that (at least until the time of writing in mid-2012) the approach taken has been politically institutionalised and highly prescriptive, with political elites taking dominant positions in the leadership and governance of the process. As a result, the national healing agenda has become so politicised that it now fails to meet the objectives of a transparent transitional-justice mechanism. Furthermore, many victims of political violence, particularly women living in rural areas, have been excluded from the major activities of the national healing project. Zimbabwe is not unique in this; similar criticisms have been levelled against national healing processes globally (Staub et al., 2005; Valji, 2010). There is, however, a growing awareness worldwide that recovery from a traumatic past must be rooted in an understanding of how human-rights violations carried out on a mass scale have impacted and transformed affected populations. It is widely accepted that in conflict situations women face a myriad of challenges, and their needs are as varied and complex as the reasons why women and girls are so often violated and displaced. Traditional transitional justice processes generally approach women’s needs from the perspective that they are victims of systems, thereby inadvertently denying their agency as rights holders. The central question then is how societies can best accommodate the needs and rights of women as integral to national healing processes. In Zimbabwe, as in most societies, patriarchy has historically placed males in a superior position relative to females, and society generally accepts this as a justification for the subordination of women. In other words, hetero-patriarchy or male-centredness is culturally celebrated in many African countries and reinforces the view that males deserve a sanctified position in society (Tichagwa and Maramba, 1998). Discrimination, gender-based violence and sexual exploitation related to culturally accepted patriarchal norms and beliefs thus present major and ongoing challenges for the majority of the Zimbabwean women. Notions of equality and autonomy (widely regarded as the two basic tenets of democracy) have not yet proven powerful enough to uproot deep-seated gender biases and misogyny. It is important to note that Zimbabwe’s cancerous patriarchal cultural system is mirrored elsewhere in Africa and throughout the world, although in Africa the feminisation of poverty and societal acceptance of violations of women’s rights tend to exacerbate the suffering of women in particularly extreme ways (Mekonnen, 2010). Many analysts, including Du Plessis and Ford (2008) and Valji (2010), have observed that failing to address women’s needs in a national healing project can slow a country’s recovery in relation to issues such as democratic governance, economic development (especially of women), public-service delivery, psychosocial well being and ultimately gender justice. The recognition that women are a powerful positive force for long-term national healing and transitional justice can no longer be denied or avoided. Women are crucial to the promotion and implementation of participatory, community-based nurturing and caring processes that have the potential to dramatically strengthen social cohesion through family and other social networks. Women-centred national healing and transitional justice Research by UNIFEM (1999) revealed that women in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region comprise, on average, fewer than 10 per cent of official negotiating teams at peace talks. For example, despite extensive civil-society lobbying, the negotiations that led to the current Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe included just one female principal negotiator, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga. The striking absence of women from such peace and mediation processes means that they lack a voice in all the processes related 5 IJR Zimbabwe Womens needs OP proof 2.indd 5 7/16/2012 11:01:30 AM