A threat to the nation and a threat to the men: the banning of Depo-Provera in Zimbabwe, 1981

Journal of Southern African Studies

Volumn 24, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 347-376

  Kaler, Amy ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CONTRACEPTIVE USE; FAMILY PLANNING; FERTILITY BEHAVIOUR; GENDER ISSUES;

ZIMBABWE;

EID: 0031671523     PISSN: 03057070     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/03057079808708580     Document Type: Article

References (158)

1. P. Manga, 'The Transformation of Zimbabwe's Health Care System: a Review of the White Paper on Health', Social Science and Medicine, 27, 11 (1988), pp. 1131-1138.
2. F. Ginsburg and R. Rapp, 'The Politics of Reproduction', Annual Review of Anthropology, 20 (1991), pp. 311-343.
3. See, for example, B. Mass, Population Target: the Political Economy of Population Control in Latin America (Toronto, Women's Press, 1976); B. Hartmann, Reproduction Rights and Wrongs: the Global Politics of Birth Control (New York, Harper and Row, 1987); R. Petchesky, Abortion and Women's Choice: the State, Sexuality and Reproductive Freedom (Boston, Northeastern University Press, 1991).
4. See, for example, B. Mass, Population Target: the Political Economy of Population Control in Latin America (Toronto, Women's Press, 1976); B. Hartmann, Reproduction Rights and Wrongs: the Global Politics of Birth Control (New York, Harper and Row, 1987); R. Petchesky, Abortion and Women's Choice: the State, Sexuality and Reproductive Freedom (Boston, Northeastern University Press, 1991).
5. See, for example, B. Mass, Population Target: the Political Economy of Population Control in Latin America (Toronto, Women's Press, 1976); B. Hartmann, Reproduction Rights and Wrongs: the Global Politics of Birth Control (New York, Harper and Row, 1987); R. Petchesky, Abortion and Women's Choice: the State, Sexuality and Reproductive Freedom (Boston, Northeastern University Press, 1991).
6. See M. West, 'Nationalism, Race and Gender: the Politics of Family Planning in Zimbabwe 1957-1990', Social Science and Medicine, 7, 3 (1994), pp. 447-471.
7. S. Pedersen, 'National Bodies, Unspeakable Acts: the Sexual Politics of Colonial Policy Making', Journal of Modern History, 63, (1991) pp. 647-680.
8. See also Ann Stoler, 'Making Empire Respectable: the Politics of Race and Sexual Morality in Twentieth Century Colonial Culture', American Ethnologist, 16, 4 (1989), pp. 634-660, for a discussion of similar issues in a very different colonial context, that of southeast Asia.
9. Men's bodies can also be cast in this role, although this is less common. For example, in 1995, rumours circulated in Zimbabwe that USAID was dumping defective condoms (which leaked and burst) in the country, with callous disregard for the African lives put at risk of contracting HIV through the faulty condoms. (One alternate explanation held that American condoms were simply not tough enough for the superior virility of Zimbabwean men!). In the winters of 1995 and 1996, when police used teargas to dispel University of Zimbabwe students who were protesting about perceived corruption and the betrayal of the Zimbabwean polity by politicians, wall posters and rumours held that the teargas contained female hormones which could sterilise its male targets, rendering them unable to reproduce and symbolically emasculating them.
10. F. Chinemana, 'Liberated Health in Zimbabwe? The Experience of Women 1981-1983', in M. Wright, Z. Stein and J. Scandlyn (eds), Women's Health and Apartheid: the Health of Women and Children and the Future of Progressive Primary Health Care in Southern Africa (Frankfurt, Medico International, 1989), p. 94. See also M. Bourdillon, The Shona People (Harare, Mambo Press, 1980), pp. 15 and 48, and R. Gaidzanwa, Images of Women in Zimbabwean Literature (Harare, College Press, 1985).
11. F. Chinemana, 'Liberated Health in Zimbabwe? The Experience of Women 1981-1983', in M. Wright, Z. Stein and J. Scandlyn (eds), Women's Health and Apartheid: the Health of Women and Children and the Future of Progressive Primary Health Care in Southern Africa (Frankfurt, Medico International, 1989), p. 94. See also M. Bourdillon, The Shona People (Harare, Mambo Press, 1980), pp. 15 and 48, and R. Gaidzanwa, Images of Women in Zimbabwean Literature (Harare, College Press, 1985).
12. F. Chinemana, 'Liberated Health in Zimbabwe? The Experience of Women 1981-1983', in M. Wright, Z. Stein and J. Scandlyn (eds), Women's Health and Apartheid: the Health of Women and Children and the Future of Progressive Primary Health Care in Southern Africa (Frankfurt, Medico International, 1989), p. 94. See also M. Bourdillon, The Shona People (Harare, Mambo Press, 1980), pp. 15 and 48, and R. Gaidzanwa, Images of Women in Zimbabwean Literature (Harare, College Press, 1985).
13. See S. Feierman, 'Struggles for Control: the Social Roots of Health and Healing in Modern Africa', African Studies Review, 28 (1982), pp. 73-148; M. Vaughan, Curing Their Ills: Colonial Power and African Illness (Palo Alto, Stanford University Press, 1991),
14. See S. Feierman, 'Struggles for Control: the Social Roots of Health and Healing in Modern Africa', African Studies Review, 28 (1982), pp. 73-148; M. Vaughan, Curing Their Ills: Colonial Power and African Illness (Palo Alto, Stanford University Press, 1991),
15. and L. White, '"They Could Make Their Victims Dull": Genders and Genres, Fantasies and Cures in Colonial Southern Uganda', American Historical Review (December 1995), pp. 1379-1402.
16. White, 'Victims', pp. 1391-1395.
17. Ibid., p. 1381.
18. National Archives of Zimbabwe (hereafter NAZ) F/118/5, Report of the Health Extension Officer for Manicaland, November 1975.
19. Secretary for Health (Rhodesia), Annual Report of the Secretary for Health 1973, pp. 2, 18, 39. See also the Reports of the Secretary for Health for 1974, p. 32; 1975, p. 25; 1876, p. 24; 1977, p. 29; and 1979, p. 41.
20. Secretary for Health (Rhodesia), Annual Report of the Secretary for Health 1973, pp. 2, 18, 39. See also the Reports of the Secretary for Health for 1974, p. 32; 1975, p. 25; 1876, p. 24; 1977, p. 29; and 1979, p. 41.
21. Secretary for Health (Rhodesia), Annual Report of the Secretary for Health 1973, pp. 2, 18, 39. See also the Reports of the Secretary for Health for 1974, p. 32; 1975, p. 25; 1876, p. 24; 1977, p. 29; and 1979, p. 41.
22. Secretary for Health (Rhodesia), Annual Report of the Secretary for Health 1973, pp. 2, 18, 39. See also the Reports of the Secretary for Health for 1974, p. 32; 1975, p. 25; 1876, p. 24; 1977, p. 29; and 1979, p. 41.
23. Secretary for Health (Rhodesia), Annual Report of the Secretary for Health 1973, pp. 2, 18, 39. See also the Reports of the Secretary for Health for 1974, p. 32; 1975, p. 25; 1876, p. 24; 1977, p. 29; and 1979, p. 41.
24. Secretary for Health (Rhodesia), Annual Report of the Secretary for Health 1973, pp. 2, 18, 39. See also the Reports of the Secretary for Health for 1974, p. 32; 1975, p. 25; 1876, p. 24; 1977, p. 29; and 1979, p. 41.
25. Parliamentary Debates [Rhodesia], 9 March 1966, col. 1497.
26. A. Stoler, 'Making Empire Respectable', p. 635.
27. 'Jab Takes Over from Pill', The Sunday Mail, 15 December 1974.
28. Family Planning Association of Zimbabwe, Annual Report 1981 (Harare, FPAR, 1981), p. 5.
29. Parliamentary Debates, [Zimbabwe] 8 September 1981, col. 47.
30. Testimony of Dr Fred Sai to Senate Committee on Population (US House of Representatives), The Depo-Provera Debate (August 8,9,10, 1978), 95th Congress, 2nd Session (Washington, US Government Printing Office), p. 211.
31. Testimony of Mr Tieng Pardthaisong, assistant professor of Preventive and Social Medicine at Chiang Mai University, to Senate Committee on Population, The Depo-Provera Debate, p. 109.
32. Parliamentary Debates, 8 September 1981, col. 61.
33. Interview with Mrs Lucy Nyamini. All the interviews cited in this article were conducted by the author with research assistants between September 1996 and May 1997. All names of family planning workers (FPWs) are pseudonyms.
34. Interview with Mrs Henrietta Takundwa. Mrs Takundwa worked in the commercial farming areas near Bindura, 80 km north of the capital.
35. See A. Kaler, 'Fertility, Gender and War: the "Culture of Contraception" in Rhodesia 1957-1980' (PhD thesis, University of Minnesota, forthcoming).
36. Parliamentary Debates, 8 September 1981, col. 65.
37. See G. Seidman 'Women in Zimbabwe: Post-independence Struggles', Feminist Studies 10, 3 (1984), pp. 420-440; S. Jacobs and T. Howard, 'Women in Zimbabwe: Stated Policy and State Actions', in H. Afshar (ed), Women, State and Ideology (Binghamton, SUNY Press, 1987); E. Batezat and M. Mwalo, Women in Zimbabwe (Harare, SAPES, 1989); T. Lyons, 'Written in the Revolutions: Zimbabwean Women in the Liberation War' (PhD thesis, University of Adelaide, forthcoming); and the ongoing work of Christine Sylvester for elaboration.
38. See G. Seidman 'Women in Zimbabwe: Post-independence Struggles', Feminist Studies 10, 3 (1984), pp. 420-440; S. Jacobs and T. Howard, 'Women in Zimbabwe: Stated Policy and State Actions', in H. Afshar (ed), Women, State and Ideology (Binghamton, SUNY Press, 1987); E. Batezat and M. Mwalo, Women in Zimbabwe (Harare, SAPES, 1989); T. Lyons, 'Written in the Revolutions: Zimbabwean Women in the Liberation War' (PhD thesis, University of Adelaide, forthcoming); and the ongoing work of Christine Sylvester for elaboration.
39. See G. Seidman 'Women in Zimbabwe: Post-independence Struggles', Feminist Studies 10, 3 (1984), pp. 420-440; S. Jacobs and T. Howard, 'Women in Zimbabwe: Stated Policy and State Actions', in H. Afshar (ed), Women, State and Ideology (Binghamton, SUNY Press, 1987); E. Batezat and M. Mwalo, Women in Zimbabwe (Harare, SAPES, 1989); T. Lyons, 'Written in the Revolutions: Zimbabwean Women in the Liberation War' (PhD thesis, University of Adelaide, forthcoming); and the ongoing work of Christine Sylvester for elaboration.
40. See G. Seidman 'Women in Zimbabwe: Post-independence Struggles', Feminist Studies 10, 3 (1984), pp. 420-440; S. Jacobs and T. Howard, 'Women in Zimbabwe: Stated Policy and State Actions', in H. Afshar (ed), Women, State and Ideology (Binghamton, SUNY Press, 1987); E. Batezat and M. Mwalo, Women in Zimbabwe (Harare, SAPES, 1989); T. Lyons, 'Written in the Revolutions: Zimbabwean Women in the Liberation War' (PhD thesis, University of Adelaide, forthcoming); and the ongoing work of Christine Sylvester for elaboration.
41. 'Birth control drug on way out', The Herald, [Zimbabwe] 6 July 1981.
42. Editorial, The Herald, 15 July 1981.
43. 'Sekuona kwedu' [As we see it, Editorial], Moto, 18 July, 1981.
44. Interview with Peter Dodds, January 1997. Minkin was a journalist who published reports that Depo was being dumped on Third World women. See B. Ehrenreich, M. Dowie and S. Minkin, 'The Charge: Genocide. The Accused: the United States Government', Mother Jones (November 1979), pp. 26-37.
45. Dr Richard MacGowan, 'Contraceptive Drug is not Cause of Illness', letter to The Herald, etc 30 July 1981.
46. P. Zvombo, 'Depo-Provera is a Relic of Colonialism', letter to The Herald, 10 August 1981.
47. 'X Matter', 'Claim of Plots Causes Damage', letter to Sunday Mail, 26 July, 1981.
48. 'Concerned', 'Welcome Article on Birth Drug', letter to Bulawayo Chronicle, 10 July, 1981.
49. 'Congress Says Birth Control is Ungodly', African Daily News, 2 December, 1957. See also from African Daily News, 'Bulawayo Opinion Varied on Family Planning', 19 November, 1957; 'Family Planning' [Editorial], 20 November, 1957; 'Government is Not Concerned', 2 December 1957; 'Highfield Trading', 3 December 1957; 'Birth Control Again' [Editorial], 4 December 1957; 'Women Not Opposed to Birth Control', 9 December 1957.
50. 'Congress Says Birth Control is Ungodly', African Daily News, 2 December, 1957. See also from African Daily News, 'Bulawayo Opinion Varied on Family Planning', 19 November, 1957; 'Family Planning' [Editorial], 20 November, 1957; 'Government is Not Concerned', 2 December 1957; 'Highfield Trading', 3 December 1957; 'Birth Control Again' [Editorial], 4 December 1957; 'Women Not Opposed to Birth Control', 9 December 1957.
51. 'Congress Says Birth Control is Ungodly', African Daily News, 2 December, 1957. See also from African Daily News, 'Bulawayo Opinion Varied on Family Planning', 19 November, 1957; 'Family Planning' [Editorial], 20 November, 1957; 'Government is Not Concerned', 2 December 1957; 'Highfield Trading', 3 December 1957; 'Birth Control Again' [Editorial], 4 December 1957; 'Women Not Opposed to Birth Control', 9 December 1957.
52. 'Congress Says Birth Control is Ungodly', African Daily News, 2 December, 1957. See also from African Daily News, 'Bulawayo Opinion Varied on Family Planning', 19 November, 1957; 'Family Planning' [Editorial], 20 November, 1957; 'Government is Not Concerned', 2 December 1957; 'Highfield Trading', 3 December 1957; 'Birth Control Again' [Editorial], 4 December 1957; 'Women Not Opposed to Birth Control', 9 December 1957.
53. 'Congress Says Birth Control is Ungodly', African Daily News, 2 December, 1957. See also from African Daily News, 'Bulawayo Opinion Varied on Family Planning', 19 November, 1957; 'Family Planning' [Editorial], 20 November, 1957; 'Government is Not Concerned', 2 December 1957; 'Highfield Trading', 3 December 1957; 'Birth Control Again' [Editorial], 4 December 1957; 'Women Not Opposed to Birth Control', 9 December 1957.
54. 'Congress Says Birth Control is Ungodly', African Daily News, 2 December, 1957. See also from African Daily News, 'Bulawayo Opinion Varied on Family Planning', 19 November, 1957; 'Family Planning' [Editorial], 20 November, 1957; 'Government is Not Concerned', 2 December 1957; 'Highfield Trading', 3 December 1957; 'Birth Control Again' [Editorial], 4 December 1957; 'Women Not Opposed to Birth Control', 9 December 1957.
55. 'Congress Says Birth Control is Ungodly', African Daily News, 2 December, 1957. See also from African Daily News, 'Bulawayo Opinion Varied on Family Planning', 19 November, 1957; 'Family Planning' [Editorial], 20 November, 1957; 'Government is Not Concerned', 2 December 1957; 'Highfield Trading', 3 December 1957; 'Birth Control Again' [Editorial], 4 December 1957; 'Women Not Opposed to Birth Control', 9 December 1957.
56. West, 'Family Planning', p. 14.
57. Mr Owen-Smith, Parliamentary Debates, 5 September 1967, col. 41.
58. Minister of Health, Parliamentary Debates, 30 September 1977, col. 394.
59. Interview with Mr James Doro.
60. Mr Owen-Smith, Parliamentary Debates, 9 March 1966, col. 1467. The motion was never voted on as Owen-Smith, a vociferous fan of family planning for Africans, withdrew it after he judged that it had stimulated debate adequately. The vehemence which the subject evoked was remarked on by the Minister of Health, in a rather inopportune turn of phrase, as being 'pregnant with undesirable features, characterised by an amount of ignorance, bigotry, prejudice and naked racialism that I have never witnessed before in my eight years in this House'. Parliamentary Debates, 20 April 1966, col. 1903.
61. Mr Owen-Smith, Parliamentary Debates, 9 March 1966, col. 1467. The motion was never voted on as Owen-Smith, a vociferous fan of family planning for Africans, withdrew it after he judged that it had stimulated debate adequately. The vehemence which the subject evoked was remarked on by the Minister of Health, in a rather inopportune turn of phrase, as being 'pregnant with undesirable features, characterised by an amount of ignorance, bigotry, prejudice and naked racialism that I have never witnessed before in my eight years in this House'. Parliamentary Debates, 20 April 1966, col. 1903.
62. Mr Majongwe, Parliamentary Debates, 9 March 1966, col. 1473.
63. Ibid., Mr Mhlanga, cols. 1489-1490.
64. Ibid., Mr Makaya, col. 1496. Mr Makaya went on to compare the intentions behind the motion with Hitler's extermination of the Jews.
65. Mr Samuriwo, Parliamentary Debates, 20 April 1966 [continuation of debate from 9 March 1966], col. 1893.
66. Parliamentary Debates, 9 March 1966, cols. 1469-1470.
67. Ibid., cols. 1499-1500.
68. 'Plan Details, please', The Rhodesia Herald, 25 September 1973.
69. NAZ B/137/5/ - Family Planning Policy, Vol. 1, Letter to Mark Webster, Secretary for Health, 24 September 1973. The Sabi Valley branch received in reply a bland statement that the Ministry of Health thanked them for their interest in national affairs, and was very interested in promoting the health of all Rhodesians.
70. For example, 'Plea to Keep Politics Out of Family Planning', The Herald, 1 January 1974; 'Planned Parenthood and Popular Fallacies', The Herald, 2 October 1973; 'Time to Get Rid of Birth [Control] Bogeys', The Herald, 21 August 1975;
71. For example, 'Plea to Keep Politics Out of Family Planning', The Herald, 1 January 1974; 'Planned Parenthood and Popular Fallacies', The Herald, 2 October 1973; 'Time to Get Rid of Birth [Control] Bogeys', The Herald, 21 August 1975;
72. For example, 'Plea to Keep Politics Out of Family Planning', The Herald, 1 January 1974; 'Planned Parenthood and Popular Fallacies', The Herald, 2 October 1973; 'Time to Get Rid of Birth [Control] Bogeys', The Herald, 21 August 1975;
73. and 'Birth Control Claims Dismissed as Untrue', The Herald, 2 July 1977.
74. Interviews with Peter Dodds, Dr Esther Sapire (former medical director of the FPAR) and Dr Timothy Stamps (former medical director of the city of Salisbury, and Minister of Health in 1997).
75. 'Cent-a-Pill Plea to Curb Births', The Rhodesia Herald, 22 October 1973.
76. 'Compulsory Birth Control Hint for Rhodesia', The Rhodesia Herald, 18 May 1976.
77. 'Birth Control Must be Voluntary', The Rhodesia Herald 19 May 1976.
78. NAZ F/118/3, Mashonaland Reports, Vol. 1, Letter to the Secretary for Health, 13 August 1971.
79. NAZ B/137/5 - Family Planning Policy vol. 3, Letter to Mark Webster, 18 September 1972.
80. D. G. Clarke, 'Problems of Family Planning Amongst Africans in Rhodesia', Rhodesian Journal of Economics, 8 (1972), pp. 17-38.
81. NAZ B/137/5 - Family Planning Policy, Vol. 3, Letter, 26 July 1973.
82. NAZ B/137/5 - Family Planning Policy, vol. 3., Letter from Webster to the Secretary of the Archdiocese of Salisbury, 19 September 1973. I have been unable to discover whether the Ministry ever carried through on this threat and cut off funds to Catholic clinics which did not encourage family planning.
83. Family Planning Association of Rhodesia, Annual Report 1977 (FPAR, Salisbury, 1978), p. 44.
84. Zimbabwe Review, October 1973, p. 11.
85. Zimbabwe News July 1970, p. 10; cited in West, 'Nationalism, Race and Gender', p. 23.
86. Zimbabwe News July 1970, p. 10; cited in West, 'Nationalism, Race and Gender', p. 23.
87. Zimbabwe Review, October 1973, pp. 24-25.
88. Interview with Mrs. Winnet Togarepi.
89. Interview with Mrs Vimbai Tasekwa.
90. Interview with Mrs Rosah Hamadziripi.
91. Interview with Mr Moffat Chitiyo, also a fieldworker.
92. According to my interviewees, infertility, impotence and menstrual disruption are also common signs that a person has been cursed or bewitched by an enemy or a jealous acquaintance.
93. Interview with Mrs Gladys Chitsungo. Throughout the interview, Mrs Chitsungo used 'taking pills' interchangeably with 'family planning': like other interviewees, she appeared to believe that the Depo injection was another way of administering the same substance as was administered orally in the pills. I believe that her comments apply to all forms of hormonal contraception.
94. I use the term 'comrades' here as it was used by the people whom I interviewed - to refer to the people who covertly entered their neighbourhoods on military and political missions for the two major armed forces in the liberation struggle, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA). My interviewees made no distinction between the two armies in terms of their reactions to Depo-Provera. In addition to the comrades, the cast of political characters encountered by interviewees included 'mujiba or 'youth' - young men and women of the area who assisted the comrades with their operations and acted as intermediaries between the comrades and the people - and 'politicians', a catch-all term to refer to all those who were politically opinionated and active on the side of the nationalists, even if they were not formally members of the national liberation organisations.
95. Interview with Mrs Winnet Togarepi.
96. Interview with Mrs Gladys Chitsungo.
97. Interview with Mrs Eustinah Muchoko.
98. Interview with Mr Jonas Chakanyuka.
99. Interview with Mr Thompson Tinoenda.
100. The women interviewed by I. Staunton reported similar concerns. See I. Staunton, Mothers of the Revolution (Harare, 1991).
101. This question was asked by my research assistant Mrs Nyaradzo Shayanewako, who also translated the comments of the people of Wedza and Buhera.
102. Interview with a man in Buhera.
103. Interview with a man, Masara kraal, Wedza.
104. Interview with a woman, (wife of the man cited above).
105. N. Kriger, Zimbabwe's Guerrilla War: Peasant Voices (Cambridge, 1992), p. 193.
106. Quoted in R. Weiss, The Women of Zimbabwe (London, Kesho, 1986), p. 90.
107. Ibid.
108. Ibid.
109. J. Gilmurray, R. Riddell and D. Sanders, The Struggle for Health: From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, Volume 7 (Salisbury, Mambo Press, 1979), p. 31.
110. Weiss, Women, p. 90.
111. M. Davies, Third World: Second Sex (London, Zed Books, 1987), pp. 104-105.
112. Lyons, 'Written in the Revolution(s)'; J. Nhongo-Simbanegavi, 'Zimbabwean Women in the Liberation Struggle: ZANLA and its Legacy 1972-1985' (unpublished PhD thesis, Oxford University, 1997).
113. Lyons, 'Written in the Revolution(s)'; J. Nhongo-Simbanegavi, 'Zimbabwean Women in the Liberation Struggle: ZANLA and its Legacy 1972-1985' (unpublished PhD thesis, Oxford University, 1997).
114. Weiss, Women, p. 94. 'Looking after oneself' may possibly be a reference to traditional methods of contraception, such as the rhythm method or coitus interruptus.
115. 'Women's Struggle for Liberation', West Africa (1981), pp. 1531-1532.
116. 'Nyasha', quoted in Davies, Third World, p. 105.
117. Female combatant, quoted in Kriger, Guerrilla War, p. 139.
118. K. E. Sapire, 'Family Planning', Rhodesia Science News (April 1971), p. 107. See also E. Still, 'Problems of Family Planning in Rhodesia', Family Planning (January 1973), pp. 91-95.
119. K. E. Sapire, 'Family Planning', Rhodesia Science News (April 1971), p. 107. See also E. Still, 'Problems of Family Planning in Rhodesia', Family Planning (January 1973), pp. 91-95.
120. A. Geraty, Evaluation of Family Planning Educational Programmes in Rhodesia (Salisbury, University of Rhodesia, 1973), p. 23.
121. W. M. Castle, 'The Extent of Family Planning Among Africans in Mashonaland', Central African Journal of Medicine (August 1976), pp. 150-151.
122. Still, 'Family Planning', p. 2.
123. L. Gibney, 'Contraceptive Practices in Zimbabwe: The Influence of Educational Attainment and Personal Relationships' (unpublished PhD thesis, Stanford University, 1993), p. 60. Gibney's information was derived from single-sex focus group discussions of 8-12 people in both rural and urban areas. See also A. Kaler, '"Who Has Told You To Do This Thing?": Contraception as Subversion in Rhodesia 1970-1980' (paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, 1997); A. Kaler, 'Fertility, Gender and War'. 98 Interview with woman, Zvaita kraal, Buhera. The quotations in this section are all derived from interview notes and translations by Mrs Nyaradzo Shayanewako.
124. L. Gibney, 'Contraceptive Practices in Zimbabwe: The Influence of Educational Attainment and Personal Relationships' (unpublished PhD thesis, Stanford University, 1993), p. 60. Gibney's information was derived from single-sex focus group discussions of 8-12 people in both rural and urban areas. See also A. Kaler, '"Who Has Told You To Do This Thing?": Contraception as Subversion in Rhodesia 1970-1980' (paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, 1997); A. Kaler, 'Fertility, Gender and War'. 98 Interview with woman, Zvaita kraal, Buhera. The quotations in this section are all derived from interview notes and translations by Mrs Nyaradzo Shayanewako.
125. L. Gibney, 'Contraceptive Practices in Zimbabwe: The Influence of Educational Attainment and Personal Relationships' (unpublished PhD thesis, Stanford University, 1993), p. 60. Gibney's information was derived from single-sex focus group discussions of 8-12 people in both rural and urban areas. See also A. Kaler, '"Who Has Told You To Do This Thing?": Contraception as Subversion in Rhodesia 1970-1980' (paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, 1997); A. Kaler, 'Fertility, Gender and War'. 98 Interview with woman, Zvaita kraal, Buhera. The quotations in this section are all derived from interview notes and translations by Mrs Nyaradzo Shayanewako.
126. Interview with man, Masara kraal, Buhera.
127. Interview with woman, Songo kraal, Wedza.
128. Interview with woman, Tafadzwa kraal, Wedza.
129. 'Contraceptives: People Concerned', Moto, 22 August 1981.
130. The second biggest problem mentioned was described as 'politics'.
131. In the words of Mrs Tariro Tafireyi, a former fieldworker, the provision on Depo or other means of family planning was 'a certificate to do whatever she wanted without the husband's consent'. All former FPAR fieldworkers cited in this paper are referred to by pseudonyms.
132. See Kaler, '"Who Has Told You"' for a more detailed discussion of these reasons.
133. Interview notes and translation by Mrs Nyaradzo Shayanewako.
134. Interview with former Mr Moffat Chitiyo.
135. Interview with former Mrs Nancy Gumbo.
136. Interview with former Mrs Florence Ndaneta.
137. Ibid.
138. 'Child Spacing Under the Spotlight', The Herald, 27 May 1993.
139. 'The Pill Women Fear May Cause Infertility', The Herald, 10 June 1992.
140. Interviews with former FPAR fieldworkers.
141. J. Lindsay, 'The Politics of Population Control in Namibia', in M Turshen (ed), Women and Health in Africa (Trenton, Africa World Press, 1991), p. 164.
142. Cited in B. Brown, 'Facing the "Black Peril": The Politics of Population Control in South Africa', Journal of Southern African Studies, 13, 3 (1987), p. 268.
143. 'A Correspondent', 'South Africa: Crimes Against Women', Africa, 170 (October 1985), pp. 70-71.
144. Brown, 'Black Peril', p. 271.
145. 'A Correspondent', 'South Africa', p. 71.
146. H. Rees, 'Women and Reproductive Rights', in B. Bozzoli (ed), Putting Women on the Agenda (Johannesburg, Ravan Press, 1991), p. 210.
147. Linday, 'Namibia', p. 145.
148. Ibid.
149. Lindsay, 'Namibia', p. 151.
150. Sunday Mail, 26 July 1981.
151. 'Unsafe Pill to be Banned', The Herald, 22 July 1981.
152. Technically, Depo-Provera had never been completely outlawed as its use among some small medically defined subgroups, such as the mentally handicapped, was still legal.
153. Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council, Strategy for the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Programme 1991-1996 (Harare, ZNFPC, 1991), pp. 7, 10.
154. West, 'Nationalism, Race and Gender', p. 468.
155. Ibid., p. 69.
156. See, 'Emotions run high over funds allocation for family planning', The Herald, 29 September 1994. This article reported a debate on the health budget allocation during which some MPs accused the Minister of Health, Dr Timothy Stamps, of 'trying to kill and exterminate the population', and argued that 'family planning programmes were designed by multinationals 'with an exploitative endeavour to reduce our populations'. See also 'MPs Criticise Modern Birth Control Methods', The Herald, 1 June 1994.
157. See, 'Emotions run high over funds allocation for family planning', The Herald, 29 September 1994. This article reported a debate on the health budget allocation during which some MPs accused the Minister of Health, Dr Timothy Stamps, of 'trying to kill and exterminate the population', and argued that 'family planning programmes were designed by multinationals 'with an exploitative endeavour to reduce our populations'. See also 'MPs Criticise Modern Birth Control Methods', The Herald, 1 June 1994.
158. Dr E. J. Candy, 'Politics No Reason for Drug Ban', The Herald, 25 August 1981.