{"id":1485,"date":"2025-12-11T13:46:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T13:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/?p=1485"},"modified":"2025-12-11T13:46:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T13:46:02","slug":"gbv-march-draws-hundreds-as-mutare-launches-16-days-of-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/2025\/12\/11\/gbv-march-draws-hundreds-as-mutare-launches-16-days-of-activism\/","title":{"rendered":"GBV March Draws Hundreds as Mutare Launches 16 Days of Activism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Fortunate Black<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mutare, 11 December 2025<\/strong> \u2014 Hundreds of residents took to the streets of Mutare yesterday in a 16-kilometre march to launch the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), in a show of solidarity that brought together civil society organisations, community groups, government officials and the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The march, organised by the Mutare City Council in partnership with CSOs, CBOs, the Zimbabwe Republic Police and government departments, began at Dangamvura Complex and ended in the central business district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants were dressed in orange \u2014 the global colour symbolising a stand against GBV \u2014 and carried placards urging protection of women and girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some survivors joined the procession, calling for an end to the silence that often protects perpetrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was a victim of GBV, but I didn\u2019t speak out because I was ashamed,\u201d said Mary, a local resident who marched with her children. \u201cToday, I\u2019m speaking out and saying enough is enough. We need to protect our women and children from these perpetrators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representing the Minister of State, Mr Gabriel Jaji urged communities to report cases and pursue justice through formal channels.
\u201cWe must work together to create a society where women and girls are safe and respected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a speech delivered on behalf of the Mayor, council authorities warned that GBV remains a pressing concern in Mutare and across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGBV is a cause for concern that requires immediate attention and action from all stakeholders,\u201d the speech read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil society leaders echoed the call for deeper societal change.
\u201cWe need to break the silence and challenge the norms that perpetuate GBV,\u201d said Sarah, a representative of a local women\u2019s rights group. \u201cWe owe it to ourselves, our children and future generations to create a world free from violence and fear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The march ended in the city centre with participants chanting and dancing to Winky D\u2019s song Kana Ruchirova Harusi Rudo, whose lyrics \u2014 \u201cif it hits, it\u2019s not love; love doesn\u2019t hit\u201d \u2014 reinforced the day\u2019s message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organisers said the event was meant to ignite public dialogue and strengthen community action throughout the 16-day campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants vowed to continue advocating for a safer Mutare where women and girls can live without fear of violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Fortunate Black Mutare, 11 December 2025 \u2014 Hundreds of residents took to the streets of Mutare yesterday in a 16-kilometre march to launch the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), in a show of solidarity that brought together civil society organisations, community groups, government officials and the police. The march, organised by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1485"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1487,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485\/revisions\/1487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewasupost.co.zw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}