How safe markets are supporting women-led businesses and reducing violence in Zimbabwe

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Women’s participation in the workforce has the potential to benefit individuals, families and communities. Yet many women are forced to work in unsafe conditions or face difficult choices between earning an income and caring for their children. Safe Markets are designed to address these challenges by supporting women’s economic empowerment, leadership and security through public spaces that meet their needs and reduce their vulnerability to sexual and gender-based violence.

In 2021, the Safe Market in Epworth was developed for women entrepreneurs, with support from Spotlight Initiative. The market includes 96 secure, well-lit stalls, a children’s rest room and play area, access to clean water, and separate bathrooms for men and women.

For Juliet Karuru, 37, the market has transformed her daily working life.

“Everyday at 4.30 a.m., I wake up to get my children ready for school before I come here to work at the Safe Market around 6.30 a.m.,” she says.

Ms. Karuru has five children and balances caring for them with running her business. 

“I have four girls and one boy who I bring with me to work because he is still very young,” she says. After preparing her older children for school, she travels to the market. 

Her days are long. “My work days are from 6.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. and I’ve been working at this specific market for two years now... In 2019, I was selling clothes across from this market, in plastic sheds,” she says.

Ms. Karuru moved to the Safe Market after she and other women working in the area were approached.

“It is easier to bring young children to work with you because we have a preschool where the children go to play and learn with a teacher." - Juliet Karuru, 37 

“The donors of the Safe Market came over to a group of us and told us about what they were working on opening,” she recalls. “They told us that we weren’t safe selling our products on the street.” Soon after, the women were offered a place in the new market. 

Since moving, Ms. Karuru has noticed significant improvements in her working environment, particularly access to essential facilities. “One difference that I have noticed between working here and where I used to sell on the street is that now we have toilets,” she says.

The market’s child-friendly facilities have also eased the challenge of balancing work and family responsibilities. “It is easier to bring young children to work with you because we have a preschool where the children go to play and learn with a teacher. The location of the preschool is safe which makes us feel safe, too.”

The preschool has become one of the market’s most valued features. As Tsungai Muguriwa, a member of the Epworth Safe Market Committee, explains: “One very important thing that Spotlight Initiative did for us was the creation of the preschool and hiring a qualified school teacher and assistant. We don’t have to worry about where our children are, we know that they are safe and we can focus on selling our products.”

For the women who use it, the Safe Market provides more than a place to work. It's created a supportive environment where women can participate fully in economic life without compromising their safety or the wellbeing of their children.

Adapted from 'Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme: Stories of Change'.