Report says Zim teenagers having sex for the first time at the age of 16
By Staff Writer
A landmark report says the first time of sexual encounter for most teenagers in Zimbabwe is at 16 years old amid revelations of forced sex driven by multiple factors.
The report titled, ’National Assessment on Adolescent Pregnancies in Zimbabwe’ was undertaken by a technical team drawn from Plan International, Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council and Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency, Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare Ministry.
It was also supported through funding and technical support from UNICEF Zimbabwe, UNFPA, UNESCO, and WHO.
“The median age at sexual debut was 16 years, the middle 50% lied between 15 and 17 years. Approximately 31% (134) reported to have had forced sex on their first sexual encounter. Only 104 managed to respond to the question on whether they reported to the police or not,” the report said.
The study found that 30% of the adolescent girls were sexually active. Being sexually active increased with age with only 1% (15) very young adolescents reported being sexually active compared to 29% older adolescents.
Economic decline and poverty were the main drivers of adolescent pregnancy.
The report also established that increased proliferation of cell ‘phones an opportunity for sharing pregnancy prevention information, CSE a promising intervention if well-resourced Childcare responsibilities, lack of financial support and fear of stigma are key barrier to school re-entry.
“Of these, 85% (95) reported to the police. Among those who reported to the police, 74% reported that no action was taken by the responsible authorities, 24% reported that court cases were pending, withdrawn, or dropped by the courts for insufficient evidence and 2% had the perpetrators prosecuted.
“Approximately 75% (315) of the first sexual encounter was with boyfriends, and only 23% (97) with husbands, 1.5% (10) with strangers, 0.8% (6) with relatives, and 0.1% (2) with casual partners,” the report said.
Qualitative interviews with a subset of adolescents who became pregnant because of sexual abuse highlighted that only two adolescents accessed post-rape care services including trauma counseling and HIV testing services. This finding points to genderbased violence and abuse as contributing to adolescent pregnancy.
