To address the issue of limited access to credit amid low incomes, female street vendors organise themselves into self-help clubs. Some contribute money to a communal fund each day and then share it at the end of each week or month. Others give a set amount of money to a specific woman on a specific day, in rotation. In the latter case, a group of ten women can give USD$2 to one woman on a given day, meaning she takes home twenty dollars from the club. Women may contribute between 1 and 5$USD per day. They use the money to replace stock seized by the police or to bribe them. Others use it to buy pots and pans, or to invest in larger ventures such as importing. These women stay away from the police’s direct attacks by becoming the runners. Women also join unions and organisations such as the Bu­lawayo Vendors and Traders Association(BVTA), the Zim­babwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations(ZCIEA) and the Emthonjeni Women’s Forum. These organisations provide a platform for engagement with local authorities and facilitate skills development, including financial liter­acy, as well as policy interventions. While vendors’ associ­ations are trying to ensure an easier business environment through revising bylaws at the local government level, the Women’s Forum draws attention to gender-based violence (GBV). The resonances between feminist work and women street vendors’ concerns In our efforts to understand how feminists can promote gender equity and, consequently, equality in the informal sector, we deemed it essential to identify areas of connection between their work and the concerns of female street vendors. Since the 1980s, feminists have made significant progress in terms of the adoption of a legislative framework for gender equity and equality in Zimbabwe. These included the Sex Disqualification Act of 1980, which allowed women to hold public office; the Legal Age of Majority Act of 1982, which abolished a patriarchal system that had held women in perpetual minority status; the 1985 Labour Relations Act, which addressed equal pay for equal work and maternity leave; and new inheritance laws, which recognised females’ right to inherit from husbands and fathers. Key feminist organisations that advocated for these rights included the Women’s Action Group, the Musasa Project, the Women and AIDS Support Network, the Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network, and the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) xx . In the 1990s, the country recognised GBV, particularly domestic violence, as a violation of women’s rights and, consequently, human rights. The Domestic Violence Act(DVA) was passed in 2007 following years of advocacy by feminists. By this time, feminists had already begun a vigorous campaign for a gender-just constitution. Their aim was to ensure that any new constitution would nullify Section 23C of the Lancaster House Constitution, which discriminated against women based on cultural and traditional practices. In 2013, feminists achieved significant progress when the most progressive constitution was adopted, enshrining women’s rights. For us, such gains show that to some extent, feminist principles and engagement align well with the need for gender justice and equity among female street vendors. Their achievements relate to every woman’s rights regard­less of age, religion, ethnicity, ability, race, class or occupa­tion. As feminist informants argue,“our struggles were for every woman.” Street vendors also require economic justice, political, social freedoms and freedoms from violence. They deserve bodily autonomy and integrity among other principles which guide our work….” A Harare spice vendor concurred with the above statement, stating:‘If feminists had not been working on our behalf all along, we would still be in rural areas today. Yes, I see now that we can work here and educate our children because feminists fought for this. If the troubles we face today are also what feminists are standing against, then we are one.” A Bulawayo vendor also said that“if feminism is defined as the fight for economic and other freedoms for women; if women’s right to work and earn money even in the streets is what feminists are fighting for, then vendors live and breathe feminism every day.” Another Bulawayo interviewee recalled that,“When feminists marched against the harassment of women by kombi touts at taxi ranks; they also fought against our daily harassment at those ranks…” Indeed, the work of organisations such as the Women’s Action Group(WAG) and the Msasa Project is about ensuring that every woman is free from violence. To us, this includes violence against female street vendors by state or municipal officers. This feminist victory is reflected in Section 56 of the 2013 Constitution, which holds the government responsible for passing and enforcing laws that protect women from violence. We also see such victories as addressing street vendors’ concerns about personal security, including violence from male 4