ZIFF, Katswe support fight against women abuse

The Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) screened the film Dreamcatcher, in partnership with Katswe Sistahood as part of the ongoing 17th edition of the Festival to support the fight against the abuse of women.
“Dreamcatcher” is a documentary film directed by Kim Longinotto focusing on Brenda Myers-Powell, a former prostitute who runs Dreamcatcher Foundation, a charity that helps women in Chicago leave the sex industry. The film won the World Cinema Directing Award in the documentary category at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
Brenda Myers-Powell (a.k.a Breezy) who had lived in a world that turned her into a drug-addicted prostitute for 25 years, decided to change her life after a violent encounter with “john”. The film chronicles how prostitutes are tormented by pimps and how they also neglect their children.
A representative of Katswe Sisterhood, an association founded in 2007 to advocate for sexual and reproductive human rights, Tracy Chatuka, said the screening of Dreamcatcher aims to teach and help educate other women who usually take their daughters for granted when they are raped.
“I have learnt a lot, especially the fact that many sex workers don’t care about their kids. If a child is raped we choose to get cash from the perpetrator instead of getting him arrested,” she said.
“We will educate those whom we left home. We would like to thank the organisers of this festival for putting us into consideration but there is also need to screen it at our place (Hopely Farm) and other areas where our organization is rooted,” she said.
Another person who watched the film, Tendai Chingwere said it reveals the truth on circumstances that led some women to indulge into prostitution.
“Some women have become prostitutes not by design but by circumstances which include being raped and subjected to other forms of abuse. The movie surfaced these circumstances,” she said.
Contrary to the general perception that it focuses on prostitutes, Katswe Sistahood is a movement of dynamic young women fighting for the full attainment of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) by women in Zimbabwe. It operates in Harare (Kuwadzana, Glen Norah, Glen View, Dzivarasekwa, Mufakose , Kambuzuma, Budiriro, Epworth, Hopely Farm, Domboshava, and Marondera. It also operates in tertiary institutions such as Belvedere Technical Teachers College, Midlands State University, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Women’s University, and Bindura University of Science Education.