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:
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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.
</blockquote>
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.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

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Shamwari Yemwanasikana is happy that the age for sex is now 18 years old in Zimbabwe. They also want to stop children from getting diseases and being forced into marriage. Hotels can get in trouble for letting bad things happen to girls. The new law will also protect children from being hurt in church. If someone says they thought a child was older, they need to prove it in court. This is to keep children safe and make sure they are not hurt by grown-ups.

Shamwari Yemwanasikana Applauds Move to Raise Age Of Sexual Consent To 18 Years

The Marriages Amendment Bill, which was approved by Parliament last week and now awaits Presidential assent, decriminalises the wilful transmission of HIV.
Criminalising transmission of HIV has been condemned globally, with activists arguing that it has the effect of stigmatising those living with AIDS.
Meanwhile, Clause 53 of the Marriages Bill repeals Section 79 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) which made it an offence to transmit HIV to a partner in certain circumstances.
The section about to be repealed made it an offence not only for a person infected with HIV but also for one knowing there was a real risk or possibility that they were infected, to intentionally infect another person.
People guilty of deliberate transmission of HIV were liable for up to 20 years in jail but convictions were extremely rare.
In his presentation in the National Assembly during the initial stages of the Bill, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, said that studies had shown that criminalising the transmission of HIV does not produce the intended results. He said:
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What the ministry is going to do is to repeal that section of the law and ensure that we keep up to speed with modern trends in the world.
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Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care, Dr Ruth Labode, is on record saying that there was no link between the marked decline in infection rates and the criminal sanctions.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/new-marriages-law-decriminalises-hiv-transmission/">The Herald</a></h4>

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