The Sunday Mail
Is Zimbabwe not supposed to be a nation with Christianity as the dominating religion? Does the Bible not sternly prohibit premarital sex?
The discourses currently taking place in various social spaces in the country somehow point to a nation whose wheels of social transformation are in motion, although I am yet to be on the clear in terms of the destination that the trajectory we are treading on is leading to.
Not to the colossal gates of hell — I pray! From whether the oldest profession should now get the official stamp of approval, to whether children should be beaten or not, to whether we should distribute condoms in schools or not, to what the age of consent for young girls intending to have sex should be, to name a few, all these are fuelling this social transformation vehicle.
And so it moves. The zeal of the drivers of this vehicle, protagonists and antagonists alike, in deliberating on these issues, also evidently proves beyond doubt our sincere desire to find optimal solutions on them.
Who doesn’t, really?
What is equally evident are lucid signs of inertia, denialism, ignorance, to say the least, demonstrated by some of those participating in these debates.
This should be addressed.
Denialism, for instance, may easily give people the comfort of not wanting to take corrective actions on anomalies, much, however, to their detriment, eventually.
I wish to dedicate the remainder of this space to air my musings on the issue of age of consent that has lately invited huge debate in various circles.
Age, they say, is nothing but a number. However, that number is of particular concern when it comes to young girls consenting to sex. Should it be 12 or 16 when it comes to establishing grounds for rape?
How should we draw the line?
You have to think twice before you say “catch them young”. I say it should be neither 12 nor 16.
You see, if we are to say, for instance, girls above 12 can consent, we would be one of the remnant countries with the lowest age of consent in the world, together with the likes of Colombia and Peru, and you will see later why it is not good.
Tunisia set it at 20.
Even in America — where the levels of moral decadence have surpassed those of the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah, as their soldiers can now have sex with any animal of choice in the jungle (be it a baboon, rabbit, monkey, hare or lion — depending on their might and tact to catch the beasts, I bet) — the age of consent ranges between 16 and 18, depending on the state.
At 12 years, the poor innocent girls do not even qualify to eat that sadza cooked from that mealie-meal that used to be imported from South Africa, with the heads up: “Not for consumption by children under the age of 12.”
They are not yet of working age, too, which is 15. In the event of being impregnated and having a baby, how will they take care of the baby?
Oh, let’s say perhaps they are given contraceptives.
But then again, do we mean they would now carry contraceptive tablets in their lunch boxes, and swallow them with water at break time?
Why are we having this discussion anyway? one might ask.
Is Zimbabwe not supposed to be a nation with Christianity as the dominating religion? Does the Bible not sternly prohibit premarital sex?
This provokes one to ponder what else the men of God are teaching children these days, on top of prosperity and miracles.
But that is for another day.
The law should, in my view, give the girl child more protection. At the age of just above 12, she is at a critical stage of her life, trying to prepare for her Grade 7 examination, the first ever in her life — results of which she would use to get a Form 1 place.
As if that is not enough, she is also going through puberty and many new things she doesn’t comprehend are happening to her body.
While she is still having troubles in taming her hormones, we do not want to add consenting to sex to the confusion. We do not want to licence her to get her career killed, prematurely.
Of the young girls between the ages of 12 and 17, the 2014 Child Labour Report established that 2,5 percent are married and that 0,22 percent are divorced. Some fall pregnant and leave school, with no hope of ever returning. Dreams shattered just like that.
A consent age of just above 12 will worsen the above statistics, and will make Zimbabwe a safe haven for paedophiles.
The paedophiles will come from their countries where the consent age is higher to appease their sexual demons on our young girls here.
They will also earn a “decent” title like boyfriend. The Child Labour Report also says that 72 percent of children live in the rural areas, and there is a greater chance that a significant number of the young girls there have never seen the inside of a classroom.
They have no knowledge about the dangers of sex, especially sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies, which is vital information when consenting.
The 2014 Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey found the proportion of women aged between 20 and 49 married before the age of 18 to be 33 percent, up from 31,8 percent half a decade ago. This should really worry us.
The United Nations Population Fund is on record saying: “Pregnancies among girls younger than 18 years of age have irreparable consequences in terms of sexual and reproductive health.”
It is obvious that their bodies are not yet ready for pregnancy and giving birth. Incidences of premature births, low birth weight, anemia and high blood pressure are therefore said to be very high amongst these adolescent mothers.
They also bear the brunt of domestic violence. The same MICS report said that 37 percent of females believe that “a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife” for reasons including that “she argues with him, she refuses sex with him, she burns the food…” It is my strong belief that adolescent mothers dominate the females enrolling to this school of thought.
Against the above background, it is my humble appeal to the powers that be to make Zimbabwe a safe place to raise the girl child, by ensuring that nobody who sleeps with a girl not more than 18 years of age will be slapped on their filthy wrists. Let us not be caught in the denialism trap about the above realities.
Again, let us not forget Section 19(1) of the Constitution, which calls on the State to “adopt policies and measures to ensure that in matters relating to children, the best interest of the children concerned are paramount”.
