In November 2009 Pamberi Trust, an arts development organisation based at The Book Café in Harare created a platform for discussion of gender and women’s issues.  Aimed at contributing to initiatives of advancing gender equality and promoting women’s rights in Zimbabwe the Gender Forum has been running for several months now and has become a popular space for tackling issues of concern guided by audience responses.

 

The Book Cafe Gender Forum is a monthly discussion, targeting human rights activists, members of civic society, women artists and members of the general public.

 

There has been an increase in the number of women killing themselves or being killed by their husbands or boyfriends largely because of domestic disputes.  At the “Advocacy Gathering on increased cases of femicide in Zimbabwe,” Musasa Project reported that 20 cases have been reported in the press alone since January this year an alarming statistic and serious cause for concern.

 

Do women have other choices in life...is marriage the ultimate goal...will Zimbabwean women ever be empowered enough to be less dependent of men?  What should women do to redefine this preset expectation and

break free from the die-hard mentality reflected by our social commentators – the musicians:

 

 

Is any life worth losing over infidelity of a partner or anything for that matter? The last discussion in April touched on the relevance of men in gender struggles, the general consensus was that the world cannot continue finger pointing on gender issues and that there is need for continued engagement of both parties to come up with applaud-able results.  On Thur, 24 June, 2010, 5.30-7pm, The Book Cafe Gender Forum once again aims to engage men and women to come to the table under the topic ‘What worth is a violent marriage that has “normalised” it across generations.’