Manica Youth Assembly (MAYA) does not focus on the literal meaning of environment, rather it cross-cuts issues to do with the social and economic environment. A social environment can be defined as a place in which people live and work including all the physical, sexual, and emotional conditions that affect them. Mutare Rural Ward 5 has become an area of fear and intimidation. Gender-based violence and child marriages have become the talk of the village. In an engagement meeting with, the village head, Mr. Robin Ziyera said: “women and men are suffering from physical abuse whereas girls have become victims of sexual abuse and child marriages”. The above-mentioned problems have been caused by poverty, economic instability, harassment, and the social ills of society. The economic instability has greatly caused child marriages and gender-based violence. With the unprecedented pandemic of Covid 19, GBV and CM have increased because when the lockdown was announced, most businesses were shut and people had nowhere to get money. Some people were retrenched and this affected the mental well being thereby leading to GBV and CM. In poverty, people are starving. Mutare Rural is a semi-arid farming region in which the growing of crops is difficult. Poverty has led to child marriages and this has become a norm due to ignorance, lack of knowledge, and awareness campaigns. Also,gender-based violence has been normalized. Men, women, boys, and girls have become victims of GBV. This has been triggered by gender stereotypes whereby women are seen as second-class citizens. Women are therefore forced to perform duties that are different from those of men. This then shows that there is no gender equity. To add, it is important to note that besides the patriarchal society, there is also a matriarchal society where women are the heads of the house. At this juncture, MAYA urges men, women, boys, and girls to stop gender-based violence because it pollutes the social environment.
