Consultancy: Policy Brief on Femicide Trends, Drivers and Interventions in Zimbabwe (Beyond Closed Doors)

Terms of Reference: Beyond Closed Doors. A Policy Brief on Femicide Trends, Drivers, and Interventions in Zimbabwe

Assignment information

• Assignment title: Beyond Closed Doors. A Policy Brief on Femicide Trends, Drivers, and Interventions in Zimbabwe
• Commissioning organisation: Women's rights organisation based in Zimbabwe
• Assignment type: Consultancy
• Duration: 2 weeks
• Expected start date: 7 October 2026
• Reporting to: Programmes Coordinator

Background

Femicide, understood as the gender-related killing of women and girls, represents the most extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls. In Zimbabwe, femicide remains insufficiently documented and addressed as a distinct policy and justice concern. Existing legal and institutional frameworks largely address killings through general homicide and gender-based violence provisions, without specifically identifying or systematically tracking femicide.

Reports of women being killed by intimate partners, former partners, and other perpetrators have raised growing concern about the adequacy of existing mechanisms for preventing and responding to gender-based violence. These cases not only result in the loss of lives but also expose gaps in protection, reporting, investigation, prosecution, and support services for survivors and families. The persistence of such killings highlights the need for stronger prevention strategies, improved institutional coordination, reliable data collection, and effective implementation of laws and policies addressing gender-based violence. A policy brief is therefore necessary to synthesise available evidence, identify key policy and implementation gaps, and propose practical, evidence-informed measures to strengthen the prevention of femicide and protect women and girls in Zimbabwe.

Purpose of the Consultancy

The purpose of the consultancy is to develop a concise, evidence-based, accessible, and policy-oriented brief that presents key femicide trends in Zimbabwe, highlights gaps in current legal and institutional responses, and identifies priority areas for intervention. By translating research into practical recommendations, the brief will serve as an effective advocacy and policy engagement tool for stakeholders focused on gender-based violence, women's rights, and access to justice, ensuring policymakers have the rigorous analysis needed to drive meaningful action.

Specific Objectives

The consultant will be expected to

• Analyse and synthesise existing evidence on femicide in Zimbabwe.
• Present the nature, patterns and trends of femicide, including intimate-partner and non-intimate-partner femicide.
• Examine key drivers and risk factors, including gender inequality, patriarchal norms, intimate-partner violence, economic vulnerabilities, substance abuse, harmful practices and other relevant factors identified by the assessment.
• Assess the adequacy of the existing legal and policy framework for preventing and responding to femicide.
• Identify institutional and implementation gaps across relevant actors, including law enforcement, prosecution, courts, health services, social services and other stakeholders.
• Examine gaps in data collection, reporting and case tracking, including the implications of treating femicide primarily as homicide rather than identifying gender-related killings.
• Develop evidence-based policy recommendations that are realistic, prioritised and directed at clearly identified duty bearers.
• Produce a final policy brief suitable for policy advocacy, stakeholder engagement and public dissemination.

Scope of Work

The consultant's work should cover, at a minimum, the following areas

• Develop a clear conceptual and contextual understanding of femicide in Zimbabwe, including its definition, forms, manifestations, and distinction from other forms of gender-based violence and homicide.
• Examine the prevalence, trends, and patterns of femicide in Zimbabwe, including available data on victims, perpetrators, geographical distribution, age groups, relationship between victims and perpetrators, and circumstances surrounding reported cases.
• Identify and analyse the underlying social, cultural, economic, familial, and individual factors that contribute to or increase the risk of femicide.
• Review the existing legal, policy, and institutional framework relating to femicide, gender-based violence, murder, and the protection of women and girls in Zimbabwe.
• Assess how key institutions including the police, courts, health services, social services, and other relevant stakeholders prevent and respond to femicide and related forms of violence. This should consider coordination, referral mechanisms, access to justice and support services, institutional capacity, and key challenges affecting effective responses.

Methodology

The consultant should propose a methodology appropriate to the assignment. It is expected to include:

• review of relevant legislation, policies, strategies and institutional frameworks;
• review of available national and international literature;
• analysis of available official and administrative data;
• review and verification of relevant existing case evidence, where necessary;
• targeted consultations with relevant stakeholders; and
• comparative review of selected jurisdictions where this adds value to the policy recommendations.

Qualifications and Experience

The consultant or consultancy team should possess

• A postgraduate qualification in law, gender studies, social sciences, human rights, public policy, criminology, development studies or a related field.
• At least 3 years' demonstrated experience in research, policy analysis or consultancy.
• Demonstrable expertise in gender-based violence, violence against women and girls, femicide, women's rights or access to justice.
• Experience conducting qualitative and/or quantitative research.
• Demonstrated ability to translate research findings into policy recommendations.

Submission Requirements

Interested consultants and consultancy firms should submit

1. A technical proposal demonstrating understanding of the assignment and proposed methodology.
2. A proposed workplan and timeline.
3. A financial proposal.
4. Current CV(s) of the consultant(s).
5. At least two relevant examples of previous work, preferably policy briefs or research relating to GBV, women's rights, criminal justice or public policy.

How to apply: submit applications to [email protected] by 7 October 2026.