06 May Shifting Norms, Amplifying Female Students Voices: Building Sustainable Transformative Justice in Zimbabwe’s Higher and Tertiary Education

The first Cohort of the P.O.W.E.R #FEM Power project brings SGBV survivor centred-support dialogues to Mashonaland Central Province that signified a powerful milestone: 131 participants across Madziwa Teachers College, ZEGU, and BUSE came together to confront sexual and gender based violence, reject harmful practices like “semester marriages” and sextortion, and spotlight urgent risks such as online harassment. Male students pledged ally ship, institutions co funded and committed to survivor centred reforms, and government recognition through TESC’s call for nationwide scale up confirmed the model’s transformative potential. This collective action shows how shifting norms, amplifying student voices, and fostering male engagement can spark sustainable justice in Zimbabwe’s higher education spaces