Discoursing women, Christianity and security: The framing of women in the Gumbura case in Zimbabwean media

Abstract

abstractRobert Martin Gumbura is the convicted leader of the Robert Martin Gumbura (RMG) Independent End Time Message Church. He was sentenced to 40 years in jail for the rape of four women in his congregation and possession of pornographic material. The media sent mixed messages on Gumbura’s wives and victims as consenting adults and as victims of religious indoctrination and brainwashing. Thus, the article seeks to analyse the framing of women in the Gumbura case in Zimbabwean media towards dialogue on women, religion and security in the Zimbabwean public sphere. The article utilises the method of framing analysis and Clenora Hudson-Weems’ Africana womanist theory to unpack the dynamics through which sexuality, traditional gender norms and religious beliefs intersect to produce extreme meanings of piety and religious identity.