Citizens have expressed mixed feelings over the police’s call for women to delete infidelity phone messages as it is the main cause of gender-based violence in most marriages.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) said this during a campaign to mark 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence held in Bulawayo, that women should delete infidelity messages before they arrive at their homes.
“One of the reasons why this gender violence is taking place is WhatsApp. To all the women who have conversations that may cause conflicts, delete your messages before you get home.
“Yes you are still entitled to your privacy and the law will protect you, however when you are at home it will just be you and your spouse, he will ask you about your chats. I advise you to delete messages that can trigger conflict. As the police we say Prevention is better than cure,” said a female police officer during the street campaign.
She added that deleting romantic messages on the cellphone will help in reducing cases of Gender-Based Violence in the homes.
Rebecca Chirenga. Executive Director for Women in Communities Zimbabwe, supported the advice from the police that women should delete their messages before getting home.
“The police are right if that is the trigger for gender-based violence in homes. However, we are against any form of infidelity and will not condone the exchange of any messages that may create conflict in the home in the first place,” said Chirenga. #The Sun
