I was born and raised in Zimbabwe, with my paternal lineage tracing back to Nemanwa, Masvingo, in the area currently known as the Great Zimbabwe/ Dzimba Dzamabwe. I have lived in four countries. However, it was during my adolescence in Zimbabwe that I first engaged in protest/ questioning the everyday experiences, critically challenging patriarchal systems, oppression and the gender binary.

My interdisciplinary scholarship is rooted in feminist, decolonial, liberatory, and African knowledges and psychologies. I see myself as a space holder, practitioner, researcher, ‘reluctant’ academic, and visual activist. My ancestral lineage deeply informs my work; my grandfather, vaTanyanyiwa ‘vaRukuruva’ Chirape, was a renowned n’anga —a nomadic traditional healer — and a descendant of the vaRozvi people whose roots can be traced back to the people who built and were settled at Dzimbadzemahwe. My surname, Chirape, meaning "healer" or "to heal," reflects this ancestral heritage, which remains integral to the ethos of my work.

I hold a PhD in Psychology from the University of Cape Town, where I was affiliated with the Hub for Decolonial Feminist Psychologies in Africa and the Unsettling Knowledge Production on Gendered and Sexual Violence in Africa Project.I also earned an MSc in Forensic Psychology from the University of Portsmouth, UK. My professional experience include working within the UK's criminal justice system, with a particular focus on sexual offending/violence, intimate partner violence/ gender based violence, and homicide. However, my work has increasingly aligned with abolitionist and justice care frameworks in recent years. My scholarly and community engagements centre violence, trauma, decolonising research on trauma, human trafficking, gendered and sexual violence, and facilitating gathering circles on healing and political/collective care within marginalised communities, feminist movements, and grassroots organising. I draw upon healing and transformative justice frameworks, alongside African Indigenous knowledge systems and practices, to reimagine justice, care, and collective well-being.