The study positions survivors of genocide as partners in the ICJs, rather than objects of the process. Pillar survivors identified as crucial to justice: timely and context specific sensitivity, flexibility and respect can assist judicial bodies globally to dispense a form of justice which takes cognisance of the totality of the needs, concerns and aspirations of the key stakeholders of ICJS. Whilst this study acknowledges the achievements of the ICJS in setting up tribunals such as the ICTR and making them functional as indicated by some of the internationally acclaimed success stories – some survivor witnesses see the ICTR’s legacy through very different lenses.

Specifically, the process seemed to have been characterised by lack of political will to prosecute rape. Where rape was prosecuted, there remained weaknesses in the process, from the prosecutorial strategy or lack thereof, to the discretion used to call survivor witnesses to testify before the tribunal. The ICJS has left many survivor witnesses disillusioned about how it could benefit their healing process.

These flaws have been obstacles to gender justice, demonstrated through the lack of political will at every level of the judicial process, and reflected by the low number of rape cases brought for trial and few convictions at both the trial and appeals level. They are also evident in the disturbing gaps in witness protection, which leaves survivors more vulnerable and disempowered. Additionally, the disconcerting absence of compensation/reparations for survivors leaves them vulnerable and disproportionately affected by the consequences of armed conflict. The study reveals a fundamental flaw in the ICJS at different levels: a lack of context-specific approaches, scarce discernment of the gender nuances generally surrounding conflict related genocide. The voices of survivors interacted with reveal the need for a gender sensitive form of justice which identifies, addresses and redresses the reality of different categories of women who suffered during genocide.

My argument in this study is that failure to address factors that affect women as women led to their discrimination and ultimately failure for women in different social and marital status categories to be treated on the basis of equality with men during the country’s FTLRP. These factors included the failure to create a conducive policy and legal environment for the participation and recognition of women in the land reform programme. The absence of such a framework in turn led to the emergence of a number of challenges that worked against women’s opportunities to engage with the FTLRP. Such challenges included the violence that accompanied the first stages of the FTLRP, the emergence of a state of legal pluralism, failure to recognise the value of women’s unpaid work and contribution to the FTLRP and the emergence of power dynamics that stifled women’s participation in the process. The result was that women got only about 12% of the land that was available under the A2 resettlement scheme and 18% of the land that was available under the A1 resettlement scheme. Those that managed to get land continued to suffer discrimination as women after their settlement on the farms. The discrimination included limited access to agricultural resources by women when compared to men and failure to include women in the farm level governance structures, yet such structures played a key role in determining access to farming resources after settlement, which in turn determined the level of success in one’s farming endeavours.

In order to address these challenges, I argue that new laws and programmes must address the shortcomings that were inherent in the FTLRP. I identified the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe and Statutory Instrument 53/2014 as important instruments that seek to address the rights of women to agricultural land. The 2013 Constitution has important and progressive provisions, which if fully implemented can address the issue of discrimination against women and the need for women to be treated on the basis of equality with men generally but also in relation to access to land. I also argue that S.I 53/2014 is progressive in that it acknowledges the rights of women to fast track land. It however protects existing entitlements to land acquired under the FTLRP. The result is the entrenchment of men’s rights over the land since the bulk of the land went to men under the FTLRP. The mere recognition of women’s rights to land without the provision of an attendant framework to ensure access to land by women therefore fails to address the inherent inequality and discrimination faced by women in accessing land. The land audit, if and when it is implemented is an opportunity to identify available land and make sure that most if not all of that land is given to the women of Zimbabwe as an attempt to even out the gender skewed access patterns post fast track. The research generally contributes towards the growing literature on the Zimbabwean FTLRP but specifically contributes towards an understanding of the role of policy and law in addressing gender disparities in land reform, acquisition and allocation in post-independence Zimbabwe

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A limitation in the research was that the fieldwork was undertaken in a small and limited geographical site and in one province of Zimbabwe. As a result, the findings, conclusions and recommendations may not necessarily reflect the reality in every part of the country.

In this study, I am arguing that the under-valuation and chronic under-recognition of women’s contribution to family economies lie in the dominance of marriage as the organizing model for farming business activities in both communal and small scale resettlement land. The study focused on not just the contribution of women to horticultural production through their labour input into the plot and household, but also on the relationship between production and reproduction in a family business that came into being as a result of marriage. The findings show that women are given minimal recognition in the business as they are not involved in the major business decisions, most importantly decisions on how the income generated from the business is used. The business models discussed in this study are the family and cooperative models. These models are layered in a way that adversely affects women’s capacity to engage with them. The findings show that the family model dominates despite the overarching old co-operative model. Whilst the operation of the irrigation schemes is regulated by state law, in reality, operation is guided by a set of norms that are more applicable and seen as being more acceptable than state enforced laws. The study concluded that regardless of whether marriage is formalised under statute or custom, women in the irrigation schemes do not enjoy anything more than the mere rights to use the land. Married women rarely enjoy equal rights to control proceeds of the horticulture businesses.

This study, therefore, seeks to profile women horticulture farmers as serious contributors and to see them not only as wives but also as partners in the business. To achieve this, the first step is to recognize the economic value of women’s work in the home and in the horticulture plots. Valuing women’s work will show the extent of women’s contribution to the horticulture business. A platform for this has been created by the 2013 Zimbabwe Constitution through the provision of an unqualified equality clause in section 56. The national objective on marriage in section 26 also provides for equality of rights and obligations of spouses during marriage and at its dissolution; and that in the event of dissolution of a marriage, whether through death or divorce, provision should be made for the necessary protection of any children and spouses. This has been put into effect through the new Agricultural Land Settlement (Permit Terms and Conditions) Regulations of 2014 (SI 53/2014) which is discussed in this study.

This dissertation focuses on the harm suffered by teenage girls who, often forced
into early marriages by poverty, must first engage in the customary practices of
initiation ceremonies followed by participation in highly ritualized dance vigils.
Evidence from a wide range of sources analysed in the context of various
methodologies, in particular the Women’s Law Approach, testifies loudly to the
serious harm caused, primarily, to their health and education as a result of the
growing abuses of these practices. In order to protect and realize the human rights
of these vulnerable young women in terms of local and international HR
instruments which bind Zimbabwe, the writer does not suggest abolishing the
practices, but rather reforming them internally by educating their adult overseers.