By COLLEN MAGOBEYA
Lent is a time to repent, to reflect on your life as a Christian and how you live amongst other people. It is also the time to prepare for Easter the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb on the third day after crucifixion.
With statistics from the Zimbabwe Health Demographic Survey saying that 1 in 3 of married women aged 15 – 49 experience spousal violence committed by their husband or partner and one in three girls is married off before she turns 18 often to older men; surely there is need for self introspection. In the spirit of Lent the, SPEAKOUT Campaign calls upon everyone to critically examine how they are relating to each other as partners, within home, community and country as a whole.
The SPEAKOUT campaign which is based on Isaiah 62: 1 which reads, ‘for the sake of Zion, I shall not be silent’ calls upon all Christians not only to Speakout!! Against sexual and gender based violence but to advocate for safer spaces for women and girls, to look at healing broken relationships and families. The SPEAKOUT Campaign has brought together many organisations including Katswe Sistahood, DMCCP and Emthonjeni Women’s Forum which are supported by Trocaire.
A lot of cases been in the media of allegations of sexual abuse in churches and in most cases the perpetrators are church leaders. The majority of these cases are not reported because of fear of victimization. We are challenged this Lenten season to break the silence and this can only happen through individual and collective efforts
