Meet Zimbabwe's Vagina Warriors

^ Vagina Warriors. Talent Jumo, Rudo Chigudu and Winnet Shamuyarira.

Meeting Talent Jumo, Rudo Chigudu And Winnet Shamuyarira was a surreal experience. They sat there and spoke about vaginas, sex and orgasms as if they were talking about bread and butter- and they contend that’s the way it should be with every one.

“The reason that we have so many issues with our sexuality is because there is too much silence,” says Rudo. “Single parenthood, miscarriages, violence, spread of STIs- all these things would not be so serious if we spoke more openly about them.”

The three ladies belong to the Young Women’s Leadership Initiative (YOWLI) which works with women aged 18-34 around Harare, urging them to put away the shame around the issue of sexuality, and turning them into vagina warriors, women who are free to talk about their sexual needs, uncertainties and desires, who are aware of their vaginas and who empower other women to do the same.

“It’s a shemurenga ,” they explain, “a war against the silence and the shame.”

They use theatre to bring out traditionally hush-hush issues such as sexual pleasure for women and the confronting of memories of sexual violation. “If a woman does not understand sexual pleasure how can she understand the extent of violation when it happens? And if all her sexual experiences have been abusive and violent how will she ever understand that it’s possible to get pleasure from sex?” These are questions I cannot answer.

They go on to explain how in their work with women they hear the most heartbreaking stories of abuse and then the most amazing stories of pleasure. "Women describe orgasms to us in ways we could not ... ...

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