Disability and Sexuality in Zimbabwe

Voices from the Periphery

Christine Peta

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351667531
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Disabled women represent one of the most marginalised minority groups in the world, hence they are largely silent while their sexuality is ignored, suppressed, forbidden and buried underneath the carpet. Until recently, most of the Global Northern published literature on the subject of the sexuality of disabled women has predominantly been constructed from hearsay and second-hand narratives in studies which draw from the perspectives of parents, service providers and advocates, without much consultation of the relevant women. By facilitating the voice of disabled women in Zimbabwe and illuminating their experiences of sexuality, this book hopes to shift the experiences of sexuality of disabled women from the periphery of society to the fore.

Disability and Sexuality in Zimbabwe presents original research on an issue that is thus far not found in local research data. Whilst addressing the paucity of literature on the subject, the book informs policy and practice and enhances the existing body of knowledge by making recommendations towards the development of a disability and sexuality framework that is rooted in the African context.

This book is of interest to students and scholars of African studies, disability studies, sociology, psychology, social work, nursing, education studies, geography, women's and gender studies and interdisciplinary studies. Additional audiences include a wide range of health, social care, and educational professionals and practitioners, as well donors, disabled people's organisations, charities, government departments, NGOs, supranational organisations, and policy makers

1 Introduction

Is it true that you want to know? Do you really want to know …? What do you really want to know …? Why not get it from the horse’s mouth.…

(Girlie cited in Chataika, 2005, p. 2)

Disabled women represent one of the most marginalised minority groups in the world (Leonard Cheshire Disability, 2014), hence they remain silent while their sexuality is ignored, suppressed, forbidden and buried under the carpet (Ball, n.d.; Banks & Kaschak, 2003). When I embarked on the study out of which this book arises, I had hoped to draw literature from local studies that would have been undertaken on the subject, but my hopes where crushed when my contextual literature search proved fruitless. The reality is that very little literature on the topic has been published in the Global South and most published literature on this topic emanates from the Global North. According to Odeh (2010), Global Northern countries are those nations that are economically developed, such as the USA, the UK, Canada, Western European nations and developed parts of Asia; Global Southern countries are those that are less economically developed such as nations in Africa and some parts of Asia.

Figure 1.1 A disabled woman’s home.

Until recently, most of the Global Northern published literature on the subject of the sexuality of disabled women has predominantly been constructed from hearsay and second-hand narratives in studies that draw from the perspectives of parents, service providers and advocates, without much consultation of the relevant women (Dotson, Stinson, & Christian, 2003). Such a power of recounting experiences is pronounced by Achebe (2000, p. 17),

There is such a thing as absolute power over narrative. Those who secure this privilege for themselves can arrange stories about others pretty much where, and as they like. Just as in corrupt, totalitarian regimes, those who exercise power over others can do anything.

By facilitating the voice of disabled women in Zimbabwe, the study sought to challenge such power and privilege practices. As such, the study created space in which disabled women could directly contribute towards bringing their experiences of sexuality from the periphery of society to the fore.

The study out of which this book arises, evaded an exclusionary deportment by being open to all sexual orientations. However, Zimbabwe is a heteronormative society, in which alternative sexual orientations are silenced by both culture and law. Many Africans in Zimbabwe believe that homosexuality is an alien ‘disease’, which was brought into the country by White settlers (Epprecht, 1998, 2013). However, a study carried out by Epprecht (1998) contradicts such a perspective by highlighting that although White people are blamed, homosexual behaviours have historically been prevalent in Zimbabwe even before the colonial era, albeit being traditionally disapproved of. Nevertheless, local people believe that the ‘disease’ of homosexuality spreads through ambassadors and tourists from the Global North, thereby threatening the family values of the African people. Any signs of homosexual orientation are in some instances linked to either witchcraft or an evil spirit and are dealt with privately and at family level. From a legal perspective, same sex marriages are prohibited, as articulated in the country’s constitution (Government of Zimbabwe, 2013). It therefore follows that the heterosexual ambiances that may appear in this book, are not meant to reproduce dominant heteronormative structures but rather reflect the individual women’s experiences within a particular social context.

In exploring the experiences of sexuality of disabled women in Zimbabwe, the study out of which this book emerges was guided by the principle of exploration positioned within the narrative qualitative research paradigm. The principle of exploration enabled the study to create space within a critical qualitative framework for the facilitation of the silenced voices of disabled women. The narrative qualitative approach enables people to construct meaning by narrating their stories and describing how it feels to experience something (Creswell, 2013; Gray, 2009), thereby rendering it suitable for research that seeks to exhume the silent voice of disabled women by using a less structured, exploratory, flexible and free will approach. The current situation in Zimbabwe is that the voice of disabled women is rarely heard; hence whilst it is not my intention to generalise the findings of this study, I argue that this first narrative book of the experiences of sexuality of disabled women in Zimbabwe will make a significant contribution towards filling in a blank spot of knowledge about such experiences within a context which I discuss below.

Context of the study out of which this book emerges

In this section, I give a brief overview of the context within which the study that gave birth to this book took place, with a particular focus on the political, social and economic setting of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is a beautiful landlocked country that is located in Southern Africa between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers and it borders Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa (Duri et al., 2013; Muderedzi & Ingstad, 2011). The country carries an almost century-long history of British colonisation, which began in 1890 and ended in 1980, after a 15-year (1964–1979) war of liberation against the White settler regime (Mpofu & Harley, 2002). Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, encompasses most of the Shona speaking people, who represent about 80–82 per cent of the national population (Africaw, 2015; Duri et al., 2013; Mpofu & Harley, 2002). The Shona therefore form the largest ethnic group in the country followed by the Ndebele who represent approximately 16–18 per cent of the country’s population, leaving the other 2 per cent to citizens of mainly European and Asian origin. Post-colonial Zimbabwe has been rated a Christian nation with approximately 85 per cent of the population following the Christian religion (Religion in Zimbabwe, 2012). However, most of the Christians, have not ‘resigned’ from the African tradition under which the pre-colonial authority of the ancestors has continued to prevail (Chavhunduka, 2001). As such, most people in Zimbabwe hold some form of Christian church membership, whilst at the same time they consult traditional healers and believe in witchcraft within an economic context which I discuss below.

With a diversified economy that leans more towards agriculture, tourism and mining, Zimbabwe boasts a plethora of natural resources, including minerals such as gold, nickel, copper, diamonds, the majestic Victoria Falls (one of the seven wonders of the world), national parks, vast areas of arable land, forests and wild animals (Duri et al., 2013). The country is also credited with a literacy rate of 90 per cent, one of the highest in Africa; a rate that has been attributed to the fact that after gaining independence from British rule in 1980, the government offered free education and free healthcare to the Black majority. However, although the government was able to maintain a well-functioning economy for almost two decades after independence, the overturning of such gains became evident in the late 1990s/early 2000s, when the country began to experience an economic decline. Muchetu (2015) states that, as a result, the country has seen disabled children dropping out of school without completing primary school education or not attending school at all, owing to a lack of appropriate facilities in mainstream schools and parents failing to afford the fees that are charged by private special schools, which are beyond the affordability of many.

Among other things, the economic downturn has been ascribed to pressures that arose from macro-economic changes of the economic structural adjustment programme (ESAP) of 1991 (Riphenburg, 1997), the advent of HIV/AIDS, a low agricultural output, political instability and a high level of corruption (Duri et al., 2013). The same authors state that the country’s inflation rate, which was recorded at 32 per cent in 1998, rose to a high of 11,200,000 per cent in 2008 resulting in the country abandoning its own currency and adopting the United States dollar in early 2009. Although Zimbabwe has received foreign loans from some African lenders, the IMF and the World Bank stopped advancing support to Zimbabwe in 1999. In addition, the country has lost a huge number of its professionals, including healthcare professionals, to other countries and the high healthcare costs have seen the majority of Zimbabweans who are now living in abject poverty, being unable to access medical care. To sum up the nature and level of economic development in Zimbabwe, one can say that the country is a low-income country that is currently experiencing economic difficulties. However, the government’s focus on turning around the country’s economy and on reducing the impact of HIV resulted in the neglect of other social areas, among them being the disability sector.

The Government of Zimbabwe Social Welfare Assistance Act (Government of Zimbabwe, 1988), Chapter 17:06, makes provision for the extension of aid to enhance the social well-being of disabled people and their dependants through the government Department of Social Welfare (Manatsa, 2015; Mandipa & Manyatera, 2014). However, the department lacks capacity, and it is also under-funded and under-resourced, thereby making it difficult for the unit to fulfil its mandate.

The plight and situation of women with disabilities is particularly precarious, who are … subjected to harassment, sexual abuse and exploitation. Also, within a patriarchal society, disabled women are less likely to benefit from the scant, inadequate services that are available.…

(Lang & Charowa, 2007, p. 7)

Nevertheless, on 23 September 2013, Zimbabwe made great strides towards recognising the rights of disabled people by becoming the 135th state party to duly ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) (United Nations, 2008) and its Optional Protocol (Mandipa & Manyatera, 2014). In addition, the crafting and enacting of the new Zimbabwe constitution, which came into force in various stages in 2013, meant significant advancement towards expanding disability rights in the country (Government of Zimbabwe, 2013), albeit at policy level and not on the ground.

The disability movement in Zimbabwe is credited with the establishment of a total of 53 Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) all operating under the canopy of the National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped (NASCOH) (SIDA, 2012). However, such a large number of DPOs has not translated into a vibrant and effective disability movement (Lang & Charowa, 2007). Stuck in distinct functional pockets and scattered all over the nation, the DPOs do not speak with one voice. Furthermore, the DPOs function at a level of inadequate organisational capacity which results in an inevitable regression of disability sector activities. Consequently, the disability movement has not been successful in playing a leading role in lobbying and advocating for disability policy review, and neither has it been able to influence appropriate professional practice. It is therefore not surprising that the voice of disabled people, including that of disabled women, is a rare feature in the country’s research arena, thereby giving rise to the purpose and significance of the study out of which this book arises.

Purpose and significance of the study

The purpose of the study out of which this book arises was to explore within an African context the experiences of sexuality of disabled women in Zimbabwe. To the author’s knowledge, this is the very first time that disabled women’s life stories of sexuality were subjected to narrative analysis in Zimbabwe. Compared with South Africa, where writings of disabled people’s sexuality have begun to emerge from interviews and focus group discussions (Bleazard, 2010; McKenzie, 2012), formal studies on disabled women’s experiences of sexuality in Zimbabwe are non-existent. The study therefore presented original research on an issue that is thus far not found in Zimbabwean research data or literature. The research enhances the existing body of knowledge by making recommendations towards the development of a disability and sexuality framework that informs policy, and for practice by individuals, civil society, DPOs and practitioners among others. The study also made a contribution to the development of indigenous theoretical formulations that are rooted in the African context, which arise from efforts that were made by the study to address the research problem that I outline below.

Research problem

As previously ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Synopsis
• List of abbreviations
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Narratives of disabled women who have experienced marriage
• 3 Narratives of disabled women who have not experienced marriage
• 4 Analysis of narratives
• 5 Discussion of findings
• 6 Methodology
• 7 Reflections
• 8 Conclusions
• Appendices
• Index