The Women’s Action Group (WAG) was formed in 1983 after the Zimbabwe Government’s so-called ‘Operation Clean-Up' during the nights of 28th, 29th and 30th of October, when the police and army rounded up women coming home from work, hospitals, from taking a walk or visiting friends. Their offence, according to the authorities, was that they were women walking at night alone and as a result they must have been soliciting. About 6 000 women were incarcerated in that time. Following this incident, a group of women decided to come together and take action to assist their sisters who had been victims of this operation. WAG was born on the 31st of October 1983.
Over the past years WAG has grown from a small pressure group to a significant organisation which is internationally recognized among activist for women’s rights and human rights.
Today, the organization’s mission is to develop products and tools for unlocking women’s power to claim and enjoy their rights in violence-free and rights-conscious communities. Its vision is of a Zimbabwe with empowered women claiming and enjoying their rights in a situation of transformed power relations between men and women.
Over the years, WAG’s efforts have contributed to the enactment of the Domestic Violence Act, input to the process of the development of the National gender Policy, contribution to the Sexual Offences section of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and engaging traditional leaders in HIV prevention and the reduction of gender based violence.
