THE soul-shaking case of a 44-year-old man from Umguza District, Matabeleland North province who recently appeared in court together with his 21-year-old son facing charges of raping and impregnating his 18-year-old mentally ill daughter is apparently one of the worst rape cases in the history of the country.
It is alleged that the father sneaked into his daughter’s bedroom and raped her sometime in January, but she did not disclose the rape to anyone.
He reportedly repeatedly raped his daughter, while her brother did the same on several occasions.
To make things worse, the victim then fell pregnant and the father forced her to marry another man to conceal the crime.
The daughter later narrated her ordeal to a neighbour and the matter was reported to the police, leading to the arrest of the pair.
Even though the two were arrested it was difficult to explain in court what had happened.
Horrifying as it can be, this is far from being an isolated case. Such unforgivable cases are mirrored across the country where women and girls with severe mental illness are vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
What is more shocking is the fact that, women with severe mental illness are easy targets of abuse, often by perpetrators who are known to them, and they don’t always report such incidents through fear.
Globally, women and girls with disabilities particularly those with mental illness continue to face intersecting forms of discrimination due to their gender, disability, social and cultural norms as well as religious beliefs.
These factors increase their vulnerability and put them at a higher risk of SGBV, and harmful practices and in most cases denial of sexual and reproductive health rights and services (SRHR).
Zimbabwe marked 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based-Violence from 25 November to 10 December and unique barriers being faced by women and girls with mental illness when seeking services after experiencing domestic or sexual violence were indisputably ignored.
It is important to note that there was never any mention about the unavailability of specialised victim support services and systems which are aimed at helping women and girls with mental illness after experiencing SGBV.
Gender advocates also failed to recognise the specific needs of women and girls with mental illness making them more vulnerable to violence and abuse than other women.
It was clear that women and girls with severe mental illness are undeniably invisible victims of SGBV.
The intersection between disability and SGBV is of particular concern because some forms of violence against women with mental illness have remained invisible and have not been recognised as SGBV due to disability discrimination.
Too many existing programmes meant to prevent SGBV do not take into account the unique dangers and challenges faced by women and girls with mental illness. Without specific attention and solutions, these women have been left behind and at risk.
Although there are no reliable figures to measure how widespread the problem is, research on disability suggests that women with severe mental illness are up to five times more likely than the general population to be victims of sexual assault and two to three times more likely to suffer domestic violence.
According to gender and mental health activists while women and girls with disabilities were more often the victims of violence, those with mental illness were getting little or no access to support services and legal assistance aimed at SGBV victims.
Gender activist Ms Tinashe Madamombe said when it comes to SGBV women and girls with mental illness in Zimbabwe struggle against a system that fails to recognise their specific needs.
“I do not think violence against women with mental illness is being recognised in Zimbabwe. For most of these women, violence is what causes their mental illness and unfortunately they also face a double tragedy of being abused due to their mental illness, and for others they face a third layer of violence when there is an attempt to rehabilitate them into society.
“However, reports that we hear of some family members being arrested for the abuse of women and girls with mental illnesses gives hope that justice can be served, but family members also remain the greatest hindrance to access to justice as they sometimes allow cases to go unreported,” she said.
When it comes to barriers being faced by women and girls with mental illness in accessing justice, Ms Madamombe said most women and girls with mental illnesses were not taken seriously when they narrate their encounters due to the stigma associated with mental illness.
“Lack of attention to women’s own account and her story due to the stigma associated with mental health, most women and girls with mental illnesses are not being taken seriously when they narrate their encounters.
“Being heard and believed is the first most important step to a fair outcome. This lack of attention further leads to cases of sexual violence being discovered at a later stage, sometimes when the victim is pregnant and it will be too late for her to receive a legal approval to terminate the pregnancy or emergency medication to protect her from other diseases,” said Ms Madamombe.
Mental health activist Miss Zenani Masuku said although women with disabilities may face unique challenges when it comes to sexual and gender-based violence those with severe mental illness were largely ignored when it comes to accessing support services and legal assistance aimed at GBV victims.
“Although there are support resources for all women with disabilities being subjected to acts of sexual and gender-based violence we don’t have adequately visible resources or advocacy for those with severe mental illness.
“We definitely need more centres that offer family and community support and education on learning to identify an abused woman with a mental illness.
“We certainly have to fight against abuse of women who are mentally ill. They are vulnerable because of both their gender and mental condition. Mentally ill women require special care and protection from potential physical and sexual abuse. There is a need to champion for their welfare and advocate for their special rights,” she said.
She said where services are usually available for survivors of violence with mental illness, they were rarely integrated into the primary health care system.
Director of Hope for a Child in Christ (HOCIC), a faith based organisation which works to protect children and empower vulnerable communities and marginalised groups, Ms Sunga Mzeche, said despite the fact that Zimbabwe signed the protocol of the rights of people with disabilities which includes women with mental illness, when it comes to implementation there were no mechanisms to ensure that the rights of women and girls mental illness were in place.
“Our programmes are not specialised in offering services for women and girls with mental illness. We just offer general services to everyone.
And there are few if not any service providers who are attending to women with mental illnesses except for the hospitals that offer curative services not prevention.
“There is also no support even at community level such as child protection committees that look at the rights of children with mental illness,” said Ms Mzeche.
Another mental health activist Ms Gamuchirai Chinamasa said access to justice was particularly difficult for women and girls with mental illness largely due to the stigma associated with their sexuality and disability.
“As a result, they often do not get the support they need at every stage of the justice process, reporting the abuse to police, getting appropriate medical care, and navigating the court system. Measures are, however, needed for their protection, including legislative and procedural changes to better ensure their equal access to justice.
“There is also a need to raise alarm over rampant abuse of mentally ill women and girls as they cannot stand for themselves,” she said.
Legal advisor and human rights defender Mr Cephas Lionel Mpofu said there was no justice for the mentally ill victims who continue to be exposed to more abuse usually by the same perpetrator and others.
He said it was difficult to prosecute cases involving mentally challenged people because the court required evidence such as DNA which in situations like these was unlikely to be present.
“Few women with mental challenges get enough access to support services and legal assistance aimed at GBV victims primarily because such cases of their violation are seldom reported or brought forward to the police and relevant authorities.
“Cases only come to light when the victim is pregnant or infected with an STI. In some occasions the victims will even fail to identify their perpetrators since they will sometimes point a finger to anyone of their fancy or anyone where their imagination settles on.
“There is also an issue of stereotyping the victims as insane and not capable of making coherent statements of allegations against their perpetrators. Some of them are even violated by people who are supposed to take care of them,” said Mr Mpofu.
He said the programmes and services on offer for victims of sexual gender based violence do not fully cater for women with mental illness.
“The suffering of women with mental challenges has always been a blind spot for programmers and service providers for victims of gender based violence perpetrated against women.
“Most of these women stay in the streets where they are prone to sexual abuse by both mentally challenged males, people in their right functional minds, rich and poor.
“Only women with mental challenges living at homes and mental institutions seem to be protected by the laws and service providers because they are closer to them,” said Mr Mpofu.
It is important to note that as we join hands as a country in the fight against GBV and build a community that stands with survivors and charts a path forward for justice, let’s make sure to listen to the voices of all women, including those living with mental illness. – The Chronicle
