By Ayanda S. Kalume, Administrator.

For one to truly understand what Gender Based Violence, sometimes they need to hear from a survivor. Most of the stories you will hear are bone chilling and heart wrenching. It shows you that the world is not black or white and things are not always as they seem. And for those who can share their stories, they are the lucky ones.

Once a victim becomes a survivor, it does not end there. Most suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress; Depression; Living in constant fear; Trust issues; defensive; esteem issues to name but a few.  For survivors there is a long road to recovery to start living somewhat normal lives again.

Most survivors find it difficult to feel comfortable in certain situations and for those that had gone through GBV they constantly second guess themselves and this affects their day to day lives. For those in a workplace, studies have shown that performance decreases whilst others even quit their jobs because they cannot handle the pressure associated with work. Others get panic attacks and or anxiety when they need to leave their homes due to the abuse they went through.

Any survivor that went through GBV is left with a permanent scar- some visible and others not as much but scars, nonetheless. They are left with the memories and pain that they went through. The current feelings of stigma and isolation by survivors that were strong enough to openly speak out about it.

Most Victims of GBV are women and children, and men too. Although the children may not have been directly abused, they may have had indirect contact and that may affect them in the long run. Survivors all need to get help and ways for them to do so are to:

• GBV Centres such as Musasa Project,
• go for counselling,
• join support groups,
• empower themselves and
• have a constant support system.

However, recently a rise has been noted in the cases were men and those within the LGBT Community are now being physically abused. Although, these cases are not as frequent and often as with women, they are still victims that need assistance. As a community we need to normalize talking about it, thereby making it possible for the victims to seek assistance. In a different perspective, there are those who are falsely accused of GBV live with the constant stigma of being falsely accused also need help with dealing with those issues.

Although the road to recovery is long, some survivors can live almost normal lives and with due time, let down their guard to some of the fears that they have. In Zimbabwe, the UNFPA; Musasa Project; Adult Rape Clinic; Bubi Shelter to name but a few designated centres that survivors of GBV can get help from.