Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA)

Deadline: 27 August 2021

Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) is an association of women lawyers that was established in 1992 by a group of women who were all lawyers in either private practice, government service or the academia and non-governmental sector. This association was formally launched in October 1995 and the association was registered as a trust in December 1995, according to the laws of Zimbabwe. ZWLA’s vision is Justice and Equality for all.

ZWLA is a charitable organization that enables women and children to assert their rights by providing them with access to the relevant legal resources. The Association promotes women’s and children’s rights. ZWLA provides legal aid to and children who face different forms of gender-based violence. Focus is also on advocacy for law and policy reform and legal education.

Formed in 1989, Women and Law in Southern African Research and Education Trust (WLSA) Zimbabwe is the local Chapter of a sub-regional network. WLSA seeks to contribute to the sustained well-being of women and girls in Southern Africa through action-oriented research in the socio-legal field and advocating for women’s rights. Here action oriented research is intended to inform and influence actions being taken to improve the socio-legal situation of women and girl children. WLSA work incorporates action into research by questioning and challenging the law, instigating campaigns for changes in law and in policies, educating women about their rights, providing legal advice and sensitising communities and their leadership during the course of the research on issues of gender.

WLSA is currently implementing Access to Justice, SRHR and GBV programming in 16 districts of the country where it is integrating livelihoods and economic empowerment interventions as part of GBV services.

Background

There is no specific law on sexual harassment in Zimbabwe. There are no national statistics on sexual harassment in Zimbabwe as no research has been openly carried out or conducted. Looking at the media reports in Zimbabwe, the rate of sexual harassment in institutions of higher education and in the workplace in general has been on the increase in the past few years. This prompted ZWLA and RAU to carry out a survey on sexual harassment in the legal profession in 2017 . Zimbabwe ratified different international Instruments including the Maputo Protocol, Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women which talks about violence against women and non - discrimination. Among the 2020 CEDAW Committee concluding observations encouraged Zimbabwe to ensure the review of the labour Act so that it clearly prohibits all forms of sexual harassment in the work place and establishes effective mechanisms to investigate complaints, provides dissuasive sanctions and adequate compensation to victims. Hence the need for Zimbabwe to enact specific laws on sexual harassment. Sexual harassment by its nature is an offense that is very difficult to prove and most women who experience harassment in the work space find it difficult to report such cases. Sexual harassment is a critical social ill at workplaces and society in as a whole. National, regional and international authorities disclose that sexual harassment is often perpetrated by men while the main survivors are women. This clearly has roots in patriarchy further aggravated by the harmful cultural practices which paves their way from communities to the work space. Sexual harassment at workplaces comes in different forms and affects relations and productivity. Further worsening this scourge of sexual harassment is lack of information and knowledge on the subject going to the extent of the harasser and the victim not aware that it is harassment. In the work place some companies do not have specific policies on sexual harassment and no proper procedures on how to handle the cases of sexual harassment. There is also a thin line between what has been normalised in the society and what is defined as sexual harassment.

Qualifications

The consultant should have the following skills: A legal practitioner registered with the Law Society of Zimbabwe and admitted to practice in Zimbabwe, A thorough understanding of the Constitution, legal and gender based violence issues, Experience in facilitating training of trainers workshops in constitutional literacy/awareness and gender based violence, Proven ability to draft the law; An understanding of local governance and development structures and processes, Experience in working on women’s rights issues, Excellent communication skills and report writing skills, Proven ability to work in a self-driven, responsible and concise manner, Vast experience on ligation, Good knowledge and understanding of the law and women’s rights; Excellent writing skills and timeous delivery of results.

Specific Objective

To produce a draft model legislation on sexual harassment in Zimbabwe