4.4.2 Violations against women Violations against women that affect them specifically as a gender with state complicity or indifference. Policy Zimbabwe has a Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development dedicated to the advancement of women. It has a National Gender Policy which seeks to address all forms of gender imbalances in the country; it has ratified CEDAW; it has signed the SADC Treaty and the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development and its addendum on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Children, which acknowledge gendered rights as fundamental human rights; it has adopted the Dakar Platform for Action and Beijing Declaration in 1995, thereby committing the government to taking strategic action to promote the human rights of women and eliminate all forms of discrimination. However, these international agreements are not adequate without their forming part of, or being incorporated into, the law of Zimbabwe through Acts of Parliament. Local policies designed for the protection of women include: the Legal Age of Majority Act, which gave women the status of legal majors at the age of 18 years despite their gender; the Domestic Violence Act, which sought to give women legal protection from domestic violence; the Sexual Offences Act, which sought to give them legal protection from physical and sexual assaults within a marriage; the Deceased Person’s Family Maintenance Act, which set parameters for married women to benefit from the estates of their late spouses, regardless of biased traditional inheritance practices; and the Maintenance Act, the Marriage Act, the Married Persons Property Act, and the Matrimonial Causes Act, which provide guidelines for the rights and privileges of married women. Rights violations against women were perpetrated regardless of the existence of these laws, conventions and ratifications. Nature of violations Women were victims of political violence and physical maiming. Rights abusers were mainly nonstate agents (comprising ZANU(PF) supporters, war veterans and youth militia) although state agents such as the police were also involved. There was also domestic violence against women. According to the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA), between January and December 2009, 1,184 protection orders were applied for and granted to women who sought assistance from them. Domestic violence was worsened by the fact that police stations had no shelters for domestic violence victims who may have wanted to seek temporary refuge, which is in contravention of such a stipulation in the Domestic Violence Act. The Domestic Violence Council was still not in place, despite concerted efforts to have it established. 20 Zimbabwe Human Rights Report – 2009