legislative and other reforms and recommendations which are laudably motivated by the desire to ensure that Zimbabwe complies with its local, regional and international HR obligations.

‘baula’ reaction (i.e., slow anger reaction) resulting in their killing their abusive partners; (ii) investigate whether the defence of provocation discriminates against female offenders; (iii) interrogate whether judges have developed the defence of provocation in a gender-sensitive manner; and (iv) recommend the broadening of the defence of provocation in the Penal Code by catering for acts not done ‘in the heat of the moment’ (or as a result of the ‘baula’ reaction). In order for an accused person to plead the defence of provocation successfully in terms of sections 205 and 206 of the Penal Code, the killing must have been committed ‘in the heat of the moment,’ which, unfortunately, does not fit into the lived realities of abused woman as revealed by the findings of this study. The research, which focused on the lived realities of 11 respondent women convicted of spousal homicide, was scientifically conducted within a strong gender-sensitive theoretical and methodological framework, in particular, the Women’s Law Approach which embraced, among others, the Grounded Theory and Human Rights Approaches. Relevant data for the study included extensive desk research of the law, court case transcripts, literature, in-depth interviews and/or focus group discussions with the respondent women and members of the legal profession, judiciary, police force, church, teaching profession and the NGO community as well as researchers, cultural gate keepers and a psychologist. The findings of the study were that: (i) society does not expect a woman to react in a violent way towards her abusive partner due to the deep-rooted cultural belief that a man has absolute control over his wife; (ii) judges interpret provocative acts using double standards based on gender ideologies; (iii) men (as opposed to women) are usually the instigators of intimate partner violence; (iv) the ‘baula’(or slow anger) reaction causes women to kill their abusive partners at a time when they are not provoked; and (v) Section 205 of the Penal Code is too narrow and needs to be amended to include responses to provocative acts not done ‘in the heat of the moment.’ The study concluded that, generally, abused women have difficulties in successfully pleading the defence of provocation as they do not normally react ‘in the heat of the moment’. In accordance with Zambia’s regional and international Human Rights commitments, the study finally formulated an action plan: (i) on the need to amend by widening the provisions of sections 205 and 206 of the Penal Code; (ii) by using appropriate stakeholders to lobby for the amendment. (iii) After the amendment of the defence, workshops should be held for judges and magistrates to encourage them to take judicial notice of the fact that women are socialised against reacting to their abusive partners and that, when they eventually ‘snap’, they do not do so ‘in the heat of the moment’ but rather as a result of the ‘baula’ (slow anger) reaction; and, (iv) the Anti-Gender Based Violence Act of 2011 should be included in the police training curriculum to help officers effectively reduce DV and, ultimately, spousal homicides.

teenagers to grandmothers) of the widespread politically-motivated serial rapes (especially gang rapes) instigated by the country’s two major warring political parties. Still traumatised by and ashamed to speak about their experiences of these gender-specific crimes against humanity (a taboo subject grossly underreported in the public and private, local and international domains), these brutalised women silently suffer living as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) herded into impoverished camps around the country which lack any/sufficient shelter, water, food or medical attention. At worst, these women have been infected with HIV/AIDS and, shorn of all their possessions, families and jobs, are forced to raise, single-handedly and without any state help, the children of the savage rapes whom the state (having denied them abortions) has forced them to bear. Guided overall by the Women’s Law Approach, the writer skilfully combines several methodologies, including the Grounded and Human Rights Approaches, to conduct her research scientifically, collecting and analysing the relevant law and literature on the subject, as well as valuable evidence from a large number of women victims, some young male perpetrators of the violence, policemen, camp and NGO officials. She presents her findings through the ‘lived realities’ or eyes of these tragic victims and within the context of the multiple breaches of their human rights caused during and after the PEV which HRs are protected by various HR instruments binding on Kenya. These violations include the State’s violation of its duty during the PEV to protect the women from physical attacks against their person, families and property (members of its police force often perpetrated or condoned the violence) and its violation in the IDP camps of their rights to reproductive and general health, water, food, shelter and resettlement. Despite clear evidence of these breaches they remain unredressed, essentially because the PEV was largely sanctioned by men who were and still are competing for state power over which they wield control. Therefore, despite growing local and international pressure, they lack the political will to hold themselves and their stooges publicly accountable for atrocities caused by their abuses of power. Finally, the writer suggests several Constitutional, legal and social reforms which should help to realise some measure of justice for these all-but-forgotten women who feel justifiably betrayed by both the Kenyan State and an apparently well-meaning, but currently underperforming, local and international HR community.

representatives) and extensive research into the relevant laws and literature in the area. He discovers that, although the Kenyan government has established a commendable policy and legal framework which protects the right of women to access water, it has failed to make this right a reality for various reasons, including its failure to address the negative aspects of poverty, illiteracy, culture, and, especially, gender discrimination. For example, the Government fails to hold private water companies to account for failing to ensure that the minimum legal number of women from the local community are elected on to its

critical management structures. Hence, in order to improve this situation, the Kenyan Government is encouraged to make the establishment and management of any water development project more sensitive to and pro-active in favour of supplying the water needs of its communities’ women. He also suggests that, amongst other things, men and women should participate equally in the establishment and management of any water project. It should also follow the lead of South Africa whose Constitutional Court recognises that the Government should provide a minimum amount of water to its poorest and most vulnerable citizens, especially its women, free of charge.