By Lungelo Ndhlovu
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Oct 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Catherine Mazorodze was overworked and tired when she quit her job as a farmworker in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland province.
No job meant she was also homeless, along with her grandmother with whom she had shared a small home provided by the farm’s owners.
Mazorodze jumped at the opportunity to get a small plot of land of her own – distributed by the leaders of Chisumbanje, her village – but soon realised there was a price to pay.
“The traditional leader of the area told me I was young and not entitled to allocated land, since it was meant to benefit the elderly,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.
“He blatantly said if I wanted a piece of land … I had to have sex with him. Out of desperation and poverty, I agreed to his terms,” the 37-year-old said.
Land is unevenly distributed in Zimbabwe and women, particularly in rural areas, are largely treated as dependants of men, not as landholders or farmers in their own right, according to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization.
Mazorodze said she was not the only one to be forced to offer sex for land out of desperation, adding that most women she knows are too embarrassed to speak out about their experiences.
She is a victim of sextortion, a growing form of corruption that forces women to offer sexual services in exchange for land, employment or job opportunities, according to Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ), an anti-corruption charity.
Sextortion is a global phenomenon that causes serious harm, robbing women of dignity and opportunity and undermining confidence in public institutions, rights groups say.
But legally it often falls between the cracks and does not get prosecuted as either a sexual crime or corruption, said Marilyn Sibanda, a legal officer at TIZ.
“The moment you consent, the criminal element falls out,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“Of course, institutions or companies might have policies in places for people to report sexual offences. But villagers in secluded rural parts of the country don’t have measures to curb this form of corruption,” she added.
Her organisation’s research shows sextortion is becoming more common in Zimbabwe, she said, although there are no statistics available at a national level.
John Makamure, a commissioner in the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) said the organisation was ready to investigate such cases.
“It is crucial for people to bring forward evidence on this corruption, then ZACC can investigate. ZACC cannot just start investigations based on sentiments alone,” he said.
