WOMEN affairs minister Monica Mutsvangwa has said her ministry is in the process of lobbying Parliament and relevant government stakeholders to implement safer market spaces to cater for women in the informal sector.
Statistics have revealed that women constitute about 67% of the informal sector but continuously bear the brunt of violence and harassment at the hands of the police and council officials.
Speaking at a recent Women and Law Southern Africa annual general meeting, Mutsvangwa said the move was meant to protect women and safeguard their interests while operating within the informal sector.
“We have asked to be given money so we build more workspaces for women, workspaces that are safe and we can term them safe markets,” she said.
“These safe markets are necessary because we want women to be able to work efficiently without any distractions, especially those that have children.”
Mutsvangwa said her ministry was also seeking the establishment of one-stop centres at the safe markets to deal with all the challenges women might face.
“The one-stop centre will consist of institutions such as Musasa (Project) to assist gender-based violence victims, health officials from the ministry and the police to arrest any law breakers. We want to replicate these safe markets and I have made it clear to the President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) that these safe workspaces should also be found in rural communities and centres to aid efficiency.”
Mutsvangwa said they were also lobbying for money to be injected into the Women’s Bank.
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“Women can be assured that the Women’s Bank will be operational soon because when we start supporting women, we would have begun what we call rural industrialisation.
“I have been lobbying Treasury and the Minister of Finance Mthuli Ncube to say, if we give women money for startups, we will see more women empowerment and that will lead to the development of the nation as a whole and a reduction in domestic violence cases,” she said.
