Dear sisters,
Happy International Women's Day to you. The 8th of March is meant to be a day to celebrate how far we have come as women worldwide. But for us North of your border, we have no cause to celebrate. I am writing this letter to talk to you, woman to woman. I believe in other women. I don't buy into the now oft heard refrain that "women don't support one another". I celebrate your presence in the highest offices of your land, and I want to continue to have faith in other women.

But, I am making a lot of assumptions in writing this letter to you; that you are in leadership to promote and protect the rights of women. I assume that you feel for other women. Yes it is an assumption that those of us who have worked as feminists know so well. We vote for women to get into high offices and assume that they will stand up for our collective rights.

We think that because one woman has gone through a particular struggle she will easily identify with the struggles of others. That like I said is an assumption that has since been proved to be just that, an assumption. So I am writing this with these huge assumptions that you are interested in the rights of women wherever they are, whoever they are. If you don't, stop reading here.

Sisters you are letting us down. The women of Zimbabwe are hurting. Thousands have been physically abused, raped, are unable to survive from day to day, and millions are groaning under the weight of oppression.

Honourable Zuma, I am not talking about the British's "kith and kin", that you like talking so much about. I speak only of YOUR kith and kin. Black women.
Women who have never owned land in pre-colonial times or post colonial times and who still have not been given any of the celebrated land that was redistributed.

But what all these women know is that their rights are violated day in and day out in the name of this land. Our President is on record for saying that women cannot be given land in their own capacity, unless they don't want to get married. On the former commercial farms all poor black women know is that they have lost their means of survival. You and I can argue from the safety of our good jobs that they were being exploited by the Rhodies. But to them it was a question of half a loaf is better nothing. Now it's a case of no bread is better than half a loaf! In the absence of alternatives they resort to commercial sex work, with all the dangers that it now entails, (your government's denialism around HIV/AIDS not withstanding here. In Zimbabwe we are quite clear that one in every three people has HIV).

Hundreds of female nurses and teachers fled from their rural posts since the 2000 elections till now, because of the politically motivated and organised violence that engulfed our country. Most of them are still unemployed as we speak, because the government refuses to allow them to "transfer".

Those who stayed continue to endure emotional and physical violence from so-called war vets and the Green Bombers. Young girls some as young as nine or ten, have been raped and infected with HIV by gangs of marauding state sponsored thugs. There are no figures of how many black women and their families have been displaced from their homes.

Have you never wondered what life must be like for an ordinary black Zimbabwean woman right now? Let me share with you what I know, bearing in mind my class status. A packet of 10 sanitary pads costs Z$10 000. A domestic worker in Highfield township earns Z$15 000 if she is lucky. I leave the horrors of her monthlies to your active imagination. Saying hello to a doctor is now $50 000. 10 good pain- killers will cost you Z$15000. A one- way trip into town from the nearest township by combi is $500.

Most walk back and forth every day. The woman still has to cook, clean and take care of everyone. Add to all this, the impact of the HIV crisis. It is women who still care for the sick, who have to care for their babies and who are still denied their reproductive rights. We are now back to the good-old system of pulling girls out of schools, because poor families can’t afford to pay fees for both girls and boys. Our gender roles and rights questions haven't gone away simply because we are in a political crisis. They just get worse.

You have probably seen various videos and read countless stories about what is going on in Zimbabwe. I know many of you doubt the authenticity of these stories given the "messengers" who put them out. But let me go back to the woman thing; you and I know the price that women pay for publicly speaking about any human rights violations that they suffer. We know the questions that are asked; What had she done? What was she wearing? Where was she going? Who is she? Can we really believe her? In the case of Zimbabwe's political violence against women add another set of questions; Which party is she from? Are you sure she wasn't paid by the British? Is it really true that Robert Mugabe a whole liberation war leader can do that? And in the case of the socio economic crisis: Surely these figures are exaggerated?

Isn't this just Western propaganda?

That my dear sisters, is why I said you are letting us down. We are dismayed, by the comments that some of you, particularly Nkosazana have made about our situation in Zimbabwe. As any woman in a violent situation will tell you, there are no prizes awarded for speaking out. If anything you are ostracized by your own family/community. You are branded a bad woman, and worse you are violated several times over for daring to open your mouth.

Your public denials and accusations against those of us who dare to speak hurts. Telling us that what we are going through is "British propaganda" is the same as accusing any South African woman who is raped of telling lies.

Your silence and quiet diplomacy does more harm to us emotionally than the physical wounds we carry. Those of you who have ever experienced domestic violence, (and I am sure there are a few among you), or rape must be quite familiar with this; the pain you feel when your own family doubts your story. The anguish you go through when his and your own family accuse you of being the bad woman. The anger when they literally tell you to change your behaviour.

That is what you and your government are doing to the women of Zimbabwe.
Partly blaming the victims, mostly silencing them. As you celebrate International Women's Day, think about the women and girls of Zimbabwe. We are over six million nameless, faceless individuals. Go beyond Bob and Morgan. Talk to us. We are here. As our rights continue to be violated in the name of "national sovereignty", all we ask of you is not to deny our pain. Don't silence us and deny us the space to name our violations and our violators. May none of what we are going through EVER happen to any one of you or any woman of South Africa.

* Everjoice J. Win is a Zimbabwean feminist activist. She is a former Commonwealth Adviser to the Commission on Gender Equality, (CGE). This letter was first published in South Africa’s Mail and Guardian newspaper. It is reproduced here with kind permission of the author.

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* Please see the Women and Gender section of Pambazuka News for more information on International Women's Day.