Shamwari Yemwanasikana, a local non-governmental organisation that champions girls’ rights, has welcomed Parliament’s passage of the Criminal Law and Codification and Reform Amendment Bill, which raises the age of sexual consent from 16 to 18 years old.
The Bill also criminalises the deliberate infection of children with any sexually transmitted disease in addition to jailing offenders for engaging in sexual relations with minors.
The owners of lodges will also be prosecuted if they are complicit in renting rooms to someone for sexual activity with a girl under the age of 18 years.
In a statement released on Thursday, July 18, Shamwari Yemwanasikana said that if President Mnangagwa signs the proposed Bill into law, it would significantly contribute to combating the issue of child marriage, which has persisted within certain religious communities in the country. It said:
This is good news for Zimbabwe, we foresee this lawfully protecting children against abuse. Recently, we heard that over 680 girls have been impregnated between January and June 2024.
We hope to see this law addressing this issue once it’s signed into law. It will also ensure that child rights violations that happen in churches are combated.
Once this bill is signed into law, we call on all stakeholders to raise awareness of this law, empowering children and community members so that they are protected and their children are protected from sexual abuse.
The Bill also includes a clause on how to handle cases where an accused person claims they thought a child under 18 was older, based on the child’s physical appearance.
If that situation comes up, the Prosecutor-General must provide proof showing the accused person knew the child was below the legal age of consent.
This is the current position in the courts with the lower age of consent.
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