Cablegate: Parliamentary Women's Caucus Gaining Greater Voice

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R 160944Z OCT 06
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1558

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001247

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

AF/S FOR S. HILL
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KDEM KWMN PGOV PHUM ZI
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENTARY WOMEN'S CAUCUS GAINING GREATER VOICE

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Summary
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1. (U) Zimbabwe,s Parliamentary Women,s Caucus on October
6 met with civil society and donor representatives to call
for greater cooperation across party lines on gender issues.
Participants at the meeting said that the Caucus, which is
lead by ZANU-PF MP Flora Bhuka and MDC MP Thokozani Khupe,
was able to set aside political disagreements on issues of
common concern, such as passage of the Domestic Violence
Bill. The Caucus criticized opponents of the Bill and on
October 9 marched to the opposition,s headquarters to
protest sexist statements by MDC MP Timothy Mubawu. End
Summary.

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Female Legislators Call For Greater Unity
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2. (U) POL/ECON FSN attended a meeting of the Parliamentary
Women,s Caucus on October 6. Caucus Chairperson Flora
Bhuka, ZANU-PF Minister for Land Reform, commended the body
for its work on issues of concern to women. Echoing Bhuka,s
comment, ZANU-PF Minister of Women,s Affairs Oppah
Muchinguri stated that the members of the Caucus from both
ZANU-PF and the MDC have been able to put their political
differences aside and collaborate over a common agenda
involving women,s issues. Caucus deputy chairwoman MP
Thokozani Khupe, who is the anti-Senate MDC Vice President,
also participated in the meeting, demonstrating the
by-partisan nature of the body. (Note: Despite the
inter-party good-will, Muchinguri cautioned that she works
for ZANU-PF and needs to respect the party,s policies End
Note.)

3. (U) Caucus leaders made an appeal to civil society and
donor attendees to assist legislators pushing for gender
equality. Bhuka said that training of female elected
officials should be a top priority and asked the NGOs to work
with women contesting the October 28 rural council elections
to help them understand and appreciate their roles as leaders
in society. She said that out of the 1,200 candidates, 370
were women. Bhuka emphasized that the Caucus would like to
see women represented in greater numbers in decision making
bodies.

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Attacking Critics of Domestic Violence Bill
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4. (U) The Women,s Caucus called on its members to rally
for the passage of the Domestic Violence Bill, which would
criminalize abuse committed within a household. The draft
law is currently in the House of Assembly, after having been
revised slightly following a public hearing last month.

5. (U) The Caucus members expressed outrage at the
statements of anti-Senate MDC MP Timothy Mubawu during a
Parliamentary debate on the Bill October 5 when he said &the
bill was diabolic and that it is &against God,s principles
that women and men should be equal.8 Inspired by the Caucus
meeting, on October 10 approximately 60 women from the
Women,s Coalition ) a grouping of women,s rights NGOs -
marched to Parliament and the anti-Senate MDC headquarters,
carrying placards denouncing domestic violence and Mubawu.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai addressed the marchers at
his office to acknowledge their concerns, but he urged them
to demonstrate against all forms of violence in Zimbabwean
society, not domestic violence alone.

HARARE 00001247 002 OF 002

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Comment
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6. (SBU) Domestic violence against women is pervasive in
Zimbabwe due to both shortcomings in the existing law and a
general unwillingness to prosecute by police and courts,
which generally see this type of abuse as a social norm,
rather than a crime. The Domestic Violence Bill would expand
the rights of women and make a strong symbolic statement on
the need for better enforcement. It was encouraging, if
rare, to see members of parliament from both sides of the
aisle put aside their differences and come together on an
important issue such as domestic violence. This was likely
the result of the strong constituencies that exist within
ZANU-PF and both opposition factions on women,s issues.
Unfortunately, the odious Mubawu and others who think like
him are also to be found throughout the political system,
though in ever fewer numbers.
SCHULTZ

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