This study explored the level of women participation in leadership identifying some of the challenges thereto in the selected rural district of Sanyati, Zimbabwe. The study sought to address the following aspects: roles of women in Sanyati, sociocultural beliefs with regards to leadership, and the depth of the effects of women’s nonparticipation in leadership. The research guided by the role congruity theory was qualitative in nature trying to understand human behavior and experience influenced by sociocultural norms. Research population composed of chiefs, headmen, village heads, elderly women and men, and councilors who had a sound appreciation of the subject. Twenty-seven participants, nine from each of the three wards, were purposively sampled and deemed enough as the research anchored on antipositivism. Data collection was necessitated through the use of in-depth interviews and questionnaires, after which latent content analysis was used to analyze data. The study established that the involvement and interest of women in leadership was low because of illiteracy, culture, and ignorance on the part of the women.
Realising an increase in marriages, an increase in marriage violence and a subsequent rise in marriage homicide, the study explored the possibility of taking divorce as a preferred option towards ending marriage violence and subsequent homicide. The triangulated study adopted a descriptive survey design which collected data through questionnaires that were distributed to 160 purposively sampled participants. The study followed an anti-positivist approach which relies on depth rather than width of data. Data were analysed and interpreted using NVIVO software and dyadic analysis, which provided for the analysis of descriptive and statistical data. It was the study’s finding that marriage conflicts and homicide are rampant in Zimbabwe and the available resolution systems have lost relevance and effectiveness. The study, noted that while marriages are good for the development of any society, if there are irreparable differences between couples, there is need to separate or divorce under what the study calls ‘just divorce’. The study concludes that ’just divorce’ is basically meant to save lives while allowing divorcees to reconnect after they would have really made up their minds and addressed emotions. It takes national authorities to appreciate the essence of ‘just divorce’ for them to embrace it as a policy.
Key words: Marriage violence; Divorce; Marriage homicide; Family conflicts; Conflict resolution; Just Divorce
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