United Nations — When Shorai Chitongo founded Ray of Hope, a support group for female survivors of domestic violence in 2005, she discovered that three-quarters of the survivors in the group were HIV-positive.
“Women’s assertiveness and high self-esteem are important ingredients to fight HIV/AIDS,” Chitongo, a grassroots leader who fights to empower and protect communities in Zimbabwe and is a national leader of the Groots Zimbabwe Home-Based Care Alliance, told IPS. Domestic violence directly increases chances of sexually transmitted infections that expose women to HIV.
“If women are assertive enough, they are able to negotiate safe sex as equal partners and not as subordinates,” Chitongo explained.
IPS correspondent Julia Kallas spoke with Chitongo about the links between sexual violence and HIV/AIDS and how women’s grassroots efforts can promote HIV care and support.
In 2005, your domestic violence case captured national media attention and sympathy. What spurred you to found Ray of Hope? What kind of program does Ray of Hope have to support HIV-positive women?
The formation of Ray of Hope dates back to 2005, when l saw a documentary on a local TV program and learned that the organisation Girl Child Network was offering loans to women under its Community Empowerment and Development Program.
Perceiving this as my only opportunity to disentangle myself from the jaws of domestic violence, which l thought was a result of economic dependency on my husband, l decided to approach GCN. The staff there referred me to a woman named Betty Makoni, as they felt that my case was too dangerous for them, since my husband was violent and lawless.
Betty was greatly touched by my story and that of my three children, who ended up on the streets while l was in hiding for one and a half years in neighbouring Botswana. Previously, I had unsuccessfully approached various women’s organisations and law enforcers but had lost hope. Not even my close relatives were afraid to shelter me in their homes. But Betty offered me sanctuary in rural Mutasa.
While I was living there, a local woman was brutally murdered by her husband in full view of their three children. This incident made me realise that l was not the only survivor of domestic violence; there were other cases out there that went unreported. With Betty’s support, l gained the courage to mobilise other women survivors of domestic violence to form a support group, which provided the space to talk about their concerns away from their male-dominated homes.
Excerpt from:
Zimbabwe: Education Is Where HIV Care Begins