VOA’s Zimbabwe Service dedicated an episode of its radio show Women’s Roundtable to the plight of Zimbabwean women who, desperate for employment, applied to be domestic workers in Kuwait and other Middle Eastern countries but ended up forced into servitude. As a result of the broadcast, the government reacted: more than 30 women were repatriated; the Speaker and members of Parliament and lawyers went to Kuwait to investigate the situation based on VOA’s reporting. Many of the trafficked women informed the Zimbabwe Service that they learned to escape their captivity based on information they heard on Women’s Roundtable.
The Zimbabwe Service airs Women’s Roundtable, a weekly discussion on the service’s radio-on-TV platform, LIVETALK, which addresses issues of concern for women and girls. The hour-long show has been growing steadily, indicating the interest women have in a program that addresses issues unique to their lives.