I'm a fighting woman myself. I grew up in a time when women were encouraged to be very independent and I learnt that to change roles causes many conflicts, both internal and external. In 1975 thousands of men, women and school children secretly left Rhodesia to join the Freedom Fighters at their bases in neighbouring Mozambique and Zambia. For the women in the armies, the war gave them undreamt of personal liberty. In training, action, political education, they were treated just like the men - a far cry from their lives in the village.
Women are tough.
They survived that conflict after a fashion, but they weren't prepared for what happened when they came back home. Society was at first afraid and masked that fear by scorn. Later, they were forgotten. Fighting women are my heroes - I admire their strength, their knowledge, their physical abilities, and yet they hide their past. I want to remember it.