The price of professional silence: Social work and human rights in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The place of the social work profession on the human rights arena is beyond doubt. To this end, social work  strives to eliminate distress, improve the social functioning of individuals, groups and communities as well as  promoting social justice. Zimbabwe has been confronted by a plethora of human rights challenges mainly  towards and during elections. Various professional bodies have taken it upon themselves to safeguard the  rights of citizens. The social work profession has emerged as the odd one out in this quest for visibility in the  face of social distress resulting from political and governance problems. This paper is a product of a thorough  eview of literature regarding the social, political and human rights situation in Zimbabwe, as from the year  2000 – 2008. The review of such documentary evidence has shown a professional void that social workers need  to fill in a bid to protect and safeguard the rights of the vulnerable members of the society. To this end the  paper recommends the social workers take an interest in the political situation of the communities in which  they work. Their involvement in political activities through advocacy will go a long way in safeguarding the  rights of the most vulnerable members of society.

KEY TERMS: social work profession, activism, human rights, Zimbabwe, governance, politics