There is arguably, no good day for a worker like the end of the month or the harvest season. It is the time that one gets a “reward” for his or her sweat.
But for most women in Ijombe village in Mbeya, Tanzania, things are much different. Harvest time isn’t time for joy, rather it is the beginning of husband-related troubles.
Battering
They cultivate but when it comes to selling the agricultural produce, men take control.
Meja, a resident of Iwalanje village and mother of four, said most women in her village were subjected to beatings and other forms of abuse dare they ask about the sales.
Taboo
“For most of us it has become like a taboo to ask about the sale of our very own products because we always know what the answers will be a beating,” the soft-spoken woman said in an interview.
It is also during the harvest time when the responsibilities of feeding and taking care of the families are left to mothers as husband abandon their families, spending most of their time in bars and other luxury centres in search of women.
Most wives are, therefore, forced to look for part time as farmhands to support their families.
Divorce
“I finally decided to give up my marriage four years ago after I found out that my husband had impregnated and married another woman behind my back,” said Meja.
According to her, it was worse for women who dared to report the abuse they suffer from their husbands to village elders since it is almost a taboo in Ijombe for one to report whatever happens in the house.
Eloping
“Go and settle the matter with your husband. It is a marriage problem we can’t do anything about it; it happens to everyone,” is the stock answer.
Neema Kamata, second wife to Atufinye Sanga, echoed her sentiments.
“My husband came to my parents and gave them money so that I can marry him. I agreed because he offered a lot of money, but at the time I didn’t know he had another wife,” she recalled.
But things got worse a year later. “After we harvested the crops, my husband sold them all and left for town when I was six months pregnant,” Kamata, a resident of Ifiga village in Ijombe ward.
She says her husband returned home four weeks later with empty pockets and when she tried to ask about the money, she was badly beaten up.
The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
join