MARTIN MAWAYA
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has commended the Government for legislating the age of consent to 18 years and criminalizing those who offer venues for sexual perverts.
Last Friday, President Mnangagwa used his powers under the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to gazette the Statutory Instrument 2 of 2024 the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Criminal Laws (Protection of Children and Young Persons) Regulations, 2024, to set the age of sexual consent to 18 years.
The gazzetted law criminalizes initiating or having sexual or indecent relations with anyone under the age of 18 and set the penalties at level 12 fines or a maximum of 10 years jail.
In a statement UNICEF country representative, Tajudeen Oyewale told The Midweek Watch that the legislation is a a step in the right dirction towards eradicating rampant sexual abuse of children and child marriages in the country.
“With the legislation passed raising the age of consent to 18 years, Zimbabwe has taken a new step in dealing with sexual abuse of children, which remains too often silent. The time has come to put it to an end,” he said.
Currently, available data show that over a third of girls experience sexual violence before the age of 18, with intimate partners being the most perpetrators of abuse.
Oyewale added that sexual violence affects children’s health.
“Sexual violence on children has a significant impact on girls and boys who experience it. The effect is both physical as well as psychological.
“It can impact education, create mental disorders, and jeopardize a healthy sexual life at a later age. Sexual violence can lead to an early pregnancy when the girl is not mentally and physically ready to give birth or take care of a baby,” said Oyewale.
Adding that early pregnancies leads to child marriages and school dropouts, disallowing girls from developing their full potential.
He however called on government to invest in the prevention of sexual abuse of children and support to victims.
“Based on the lessons from existing initiatives by the government and partners, prevention and support programmes must be continued and scaled up. Everybody in Zimbabwe must understand that sexual abuse of children is not acceptable, and they need to act accordingly and speak up,” added Oyewale.
He stated that children deserve the right to grow up in a safe environment, hence applauded the action to prevent sexual abuse of children or any forms of violence against children.
According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT 2022) preliminary census report on fertility, 133 455 women aged between 20 and 24 years, were married before attaining the age of 18.
With the highest proportion of 22.7% in rural areas compared to 7.2% in urban areas.
The 2023 United Nations Population Fund report says that 350 000 girls aged between 10 and 19 fell pregnant between 2019 and 2022.
While The National Assessment of Adolescent Pregnancies in Zimbabwe dossier released in June last year revealed that for 1.7 million antenatal care bookings recorded between 2019 and 2022, 358 000 were of girls aged between 10 years and 19 years.
