29pc of employed Zim women live below poverty line

Zim Now Writer

European Union (EU)-United Nations (UN) partnership to eliminate violence against women and girls, Spotlight Initiative, has revealed that about 70 percent of employed women are experiencing food insecurity in their households.

The statistics were disclosed on Wednesday last week during the UN agency presentation at the #HeForShe Dialogue for diplomats and business leaders’ commemorations of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

Women face food security vulnerabilities on all dimensions of food security, availability, access and stability.

“Around 29 percent of employed women in Zimbabwe live below the poverty line, while 70 percent experience food insecurity in their households,” the Spotlight Initiative said.

According to the World Values Survey 2020, social sanctions persist against women in the workplace.

There is need to recognise that women’s food security cannot be separated from broader concerns of agency, policies must consider the specific issues of gender equality and women’s rights.

“The surveyed adults report that a woman working outside of her home was likely to be criticised, to have arguments with her husband, to have conflicts with her in-laws, and to be considered immoral in the community.

“For the subsample of those working outside the home (370 men and 154 women), around 24percent (23 percent men and 27 percent women) report that women at their workplaces frequently experience sexual harassment,” the survey reads.

Spotlight Initiative further said there is need to need to tackle entrenched social norms that makes it unacceptable for women to seek employment or work outside their homes.

“We should recognise Cabinet’s decision to take on board the recommendation to ratify Convention C190, to prevent violence and harassment at the workplace empowerment,” the Spotlight Initiative added.