Mashonaland East Province has the highest number of male prisoners jailed for gender-based violence (GBV) in 2021, figures released by the Zimbabwe Prison Correctional Services (ZPCS) on Monday show.
The province had 445 male inmates jailed for GBV this year alone while Manicaland Province has the lowest number of men jailed for related crimes, with just 25.
Mashonaland West Province came in second behind Manicaland, with 364 men jailed for GBV, followed by Bulawayo Province with 350.
Mashonaland Central has 231, Masvingo 177, Midlands 94, Harare 72, Matabeleland South 70, and Matabeleland North has 55 male GBV inmates.
The total number of men jailed for GBV countrywide in 2021 stood at 1 834.
In terms of females jailed for GBV, Mash East again tops the provinces with 11 inmates, with Mat North having the lowest number, just 1.
Mash West had 8 female perpetrators of GBV, Midlands had 7, Bulawayo had 6, Masvingo had three, while Mat South and Mash Central had 4 each.
In total, 49 women are serving prison terms for GBV-related crimes.
Information from ZPSC shows that for male males jailed for GBV in 2020, the figures were as follows: Mashonaland West (522), Manicaland (43), Bulawayo (460), Mashonaland East (301), Masvingo (179), Midlands (96), Matabeleland South (72), Harare (68), Matabeleland North (58), and Manicaland (43).