More than 2,400 men in Zimbabwe filed court reports this year complaining that they are being abused by women.
According to the state-controlled Herald newspaper, 2,414 men wanted the courts to stop abusive wives from brutalizing them.
The newspaper noted that at the same time over 6,000 women filed similar complaints against men. Most of the cases were related to domestic violence.
For perspective, VOA Studio 7 reached Reverend Useni Sibanda of the Zimbabwe Institute for Social Transformation, who said he has handled such cases.
“This is becoming an economic problem because of the economic and because I think in general women have become freer than they would have been in a traditional community.
“I think some of them now are taking it to extremes and they are beginning to abuse their husbands. I think the whole thing of gender we have to balance it to look at both men and women … now they have been cases of rape against men.”
He has handled at least two such cases this year. “These do not have anything to do with physical abuse but some of it is a bit psychological and mental abuse where the woman would really abuse the husband verbally and sometimes it takes to the level where the husband would say ‘l would rather stay away from home’.”
Reverand Sibanda said some abused men seek peace orders from the police in order to resolve the matter. “But in most cases it is difficult to resolve such cases.”
