22 women are r_ped daily in Zimbabwe while one-third of females are s_xually assaulted by the time they celebrate their 18th birthday.
This was revealed by Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) chairperson Margaret Sangarwe while speaking at an awareness campaign ahead of the commemoration of this year’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence in Zimunya area, Mutare. She said:
Twenty-two women are raped daily in Zimbabwe, one woman is abused every 75 minutes and an average of 646 women are being s_xually-abused monthly and one in three girls is raped or s_xually assaulted before they reach the age of 18.
Sangarwe also revealed that there is a sharp increase in rape cases of minors as well as a rise of 30 per cent of early child marriages.
This year’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence will start on November 25 and run until December 10. It will be held under the theme “Orange the World: Generation Equality Against Rape.”