Patience is a Zimbabwean, feminist, social justice rights activist. Currently working for Pakasipiti Zimbabwe as the Director. My work mainly focuses on advocacy on human rights issues for the LBTQ+ community, for women’s justice, SRHR, body autonomy and choice , wellness and wellbeing and healing Justice. My major field of study was BA In Communication Science( UNISA), I currently am furthering my studies in Gender studies and Law. In my current role I work strategically with international, regional and national organizations to push and advance women's rights.
What Motivates
I have been working on human rights issues for the past 15 years in different capacities and in different spaces. As a young woman I found myself in different spaces, meeting different people and have gained a lot of knowledge and insight on issues to do with human rights, feminism , women’s movement, movement building and political education. Having also been a part of a feminist movement building initiative in Southern Africa and in Africa my politics is rooted within a feminist framing . I have had the opportunity to work with different wonderful feminists and Women Human Rights Defenders from across the world. I have done trainings with various Global Feminist Initiatives, namely CREA, DAWN(Feminist Movement), IWHC and IWRAW Asia Pacific. I have also participated in trainings around Strategic Litigation with Center For Human Rights and Various UN platforms and at the African Commission Of Human And Peoples Rights.
I have also carried out cross cutting research initiatives on various intersectional issues from access to abortion and women’s economic empowerment and a whole range of issues that dirrectly ensure advancement and inclusion of marginalised communities. I have participated in spaces such as CSW, CEDAW, Beijing +20 Review, AIDS Conferences, ICASA and the African Feminist Forums to name a few and also in many national and regional initiatives . At the age of 40 and identifying, as a black queer feminist woman I have often been a target of intolerance and prejudice, and this has driven me to defend the rights of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in Zimbabwe and across regions .
I am a feminist, LBQ activist and Women's Rights defender currently work for Pakasipiti Zimbabwe as the Programs Associate. My work mainly focuses on advocacy on LBTQ rights issues. I hold a CPM ( Project Management) In my current role I work strategically with international, regional and national organizations, in advocating for women’s rights particularly their sexual and reproductive health rights especially focusing on Lesbian bisexual/women who have sex with women, Trans and Queer persons .
I have been working on LBTQ\women’s rights issues for more than 15 years, I have found myself in different spaces, meeting different people and have gained a lot of knowledge and insight on issues to do with women’s rights, Feminism and women’s movement building.. Having also been part of a feminist movement initiative Southern Africa, I have had the opportunity to work with different wonderful feminist from across the region I have found great inspiration from just learning and sharing with them and has helped me grow as a feminist. I sat on the Sexual Rights Centre LGBTIQ advisory board, this is a representative board of the LGBTIQ as stakeholders and as an advisory committee to the board of Directors. Duties included planning programs and assessing the stakeholders engagements .
I was part of a collective called the Feminist action campaigners (Facers) where we used direct action work to respond to newspaper articles that infringed on the women’s rights, solidarity marches for action where women can speak out for themselves and online presence through Facebook page. I was part of the working group on The LBTQ Charter which is a document of the asks and needs of the LBTQ community in Zimbabwe. This document is to be used as an advocacy tool to ensure that the needs and the Rights of the LBTQ are addressed, understood and articulated. Currently I am working on the Autonomy project with Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) which gives LBQ women a voice, to celebrate and take ownership of their bodies.
Passionate on advancing and recognition of LBQ Rights, I have worked in the community and being involved in projects that strive to address challenging social issues; I have gained some insurmountable experience in this field. I am still to further my knowledge and experience, which will enable me to rise in progressively challenging positions while being able to make a positive change in society, with a special interest in Women’s and LGBTIQ+ Health and Rights.
I am a Zimbabwean feminist and human rights defender.
I currently work for Pakasipiti Zimbabwe as the Finance and Administration Officer. I hold a Diploma in Accounting and Finance , and have also studied for a Diploma in Journalism with CCOSA College .I have previously worked in other LGBTI spaces including as an Administration Officer with Gays and Lesbian association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) from 2007.
I am a feminist and an artist. I am an outspoken creative and hardworking activist who is dedicated to collective organizing, movement building and advancing LBTQ rights and uses any platform I get to challenge injustices. I have contributed immensely to the LBTQ struggle through artivism. In 2010 during the constitutional making process in Zimbabwe I contributed to the campaign by doing a song that speaks of Hate “Rusarura Ruvengo” which received a lot of airplay. This campaign brought together the LBTQ community, young women, feminists and religious leaders, the campaign was a first of its kind and it earned the community of Zimbabwe the Go Visible Award by the European parliament and intergroup on LBTQ rights. I also did another song during 16 Days of activism against Gender based violence together with 2 other activists, the song “Mhondi YeRudo” is an awareness raising song on experiences of Gender Based Violence in relation to Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and expression. As an activist I have actively initiated and participated in different spaces and I have gained knowledge and experience of organizing in different contexts nationally. I have also facilitated trainings on safety and security after going through Frontline defenders training of trainers. I also participated in renowned Zanele Muholi’s faces and phrases project and “Tinzwei” Hear Us too .
