Construction of rape culture amongst the Shona indigenous religion and culture: Perspectives from African feminist cultural hermeneutics

Abstract

Rape culture is reportedly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Culture, patriarchy, poverty and religion continue to sustain rape culture. The notions of the objectification of women’s bodies amongst the Shona people are causatives for rape culture within diverse cultural institutions. Africans reasonably uphold marriage with high esteem; unfortunately, the marriage institution is also susceptible to becoming a source of abuse, coercion, and is often used as a tool for controlling women. Some of the entrenched marital rituals embody diverse detrimental and contentious practices, which deprive girls and women their autonomous rights, particularly their sexual and reproductive rights. This research article interrogates numerous aspects within the Shona indigenous religion and culture, which precipitate the construction of rape culture. The study uses African feminism as a theoretical framework. It utilises African feminist cultural hermeneutics to interrogate rape culture amongst the Shona people. The research study is qualitative with a conceptual analysis paradigm. It concludes by proposing the need for tapping into some life-giving and gender inclusive principles within the Shona indigenous religion and culture to be utilised as tools for eradicating rape culture.Contribution: Utilising the African feminist cultural hermeneutical framework, the article interrogated several factors precipitating rape culture amongst the Shona people. It foregrounded that women bear the brunt of burden of rape culture. It concludes by proposing the need for tapping into some positive Shona indigenous traditions as tools for curbing rape culture.

The Gibean solution (Jgs 19-21) - a mirror to reclaiming women dignity in Zimbabwe

“…Feminist interpretation therefore not only condemns the violence inflicted on the voiceless woman but also seeks to re-tell the story from her vantage point and portraying her as embodied cries of outrage (See also, Mwandayi & Chirongoma 2020;Sande & Chirongoma 2021). Assuming that the story is familiar to most people, we deliberately avoid re-telling it all over and move straight to look at how the Zimbabwean context of feminised violence is in dialogue with the Gibean incident of feminised violence.…”

A re-reading of Judges 19 in juxtaposition to the Zimbabwean women’s vulnerability to ‘punitive rape’

“…Given that the underlying issue which comes out glaringly clear from Judges 19 is the lack of hospitality, the concubine's http://www.hts.org.za Open Access rape case beckons us to tap into a theology of hospitality and human dignity as springboards for addressing the rape culture in Zimbabwe. Writing specifically about the rape culture among the Shona people in Zimbabwe, Sande and Chirongoma (2021) put it across as follows:…”

“…In the second part of the article, we then explore how these two women's experiences can be used as resources to seriously engage the problem of rape in contemporary Zimbabwe. The article draws to a close by countering the human rights violations, depravity and dehumanisations clouding the Judges 19-21 narrative and the case of Munengami, through proffering a theology of hospitality and human dignity as resources for reclaiming and restoring the humanity and dignity of women exposed to diverse forms of gender-based violence in our contemporary times (Mwandayi & Chirongoma 2020;Sande & Chirongoma 2021).…”

Religious and traditional beliefs and practices as predictors of mental and physical health outcomes and the role of religious affiliation in health outcomes and risk taking. A quantitative study among young people living with HIV in Zimbabwe

“…This was exempli ed by Mutambare et al who found that, in Gweru, people living with HIV defaulted on medication use because they believed in faith healing, alternative medicines, and perceived spirituality as the main cause of HIV and AIDS (9). Other studies are limited to describing the role of religious stigma (10), religious norms associated with sexuality and gender (11,12,13,14,15), and the belief in witchcraft as the spiritual source of illness and health (16). Finally, Shoko points to the signi cance of traditional beliefs and practices by explaining that traditional medicine is important to Shona people because it addresses aspects which bio-medical practice fails to (17).…”