For young disadvantaged girls at Ezinkondweni Village in Ward 3 of Umzingwane district in the southern part of Zimbabwe, the allure of intimacy for small luxury items is irresistible.
Some parents cannot afford to provide basic hygiene requirements such as clean clothes, goodies, water, soap and sanitary wear for young girls.
And, the consequences are dire for these young girls and some women, who are being preyed on by older men with spare cash or the Makorokozas that dangle gold money.
“Ogweja (Makorokozas, gold panners) are enticing our girls by using money to abuse them. Whenever they get huge sums of money after selling their gold, they come to our girls and buy them goodies and sanitary wear,” says Julius Nyoni of Vukuzenzele 1.
“This does not end there. They then demand to be intimate with the girls. The results are teen pregnancies and abuse of our children. It is humiliating for a child to be impregnated for something that costs US$1 or so.”
All this emerged during a dialogue platform organised by UN Women in partnership with Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) under the Spotlight Initiative at Bambanani Business Centre at Ezinkondweni in Umzingwane recently.
This rural public campaign sought to raise awareness and end sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in public spaces.
“Our young girls and young women love ‘Ámakhumukhumu’ (goodies or nice things) and they end up being abused by illegal miners. As parents we cannot afford luxuries and we are to blame as we push our girls to get money for little things as sanitary wear from Makorokozas,” said Sithabiso Nkala of Ezinkondweni. Mellina Makanda of Ezinkondweni said, “Makorokozas harass and abuse young girls. Many fall pregnant and are dumped. As mothers we carry the burden of looking after the girls and their babies. Makorokozas are a problem here.”
“Apart from this, young girls are abused at water points, at business centres and in the bush. When Makorokozas get drunk they make noise all night, abuse young girls and the result are teen pregnancies.”
Some men at this dialogue platform said sometimes the girls were being intimate with the gold panners in exchange for as little as US$1 or $3 for “amajiggies or amazepe” (snacks) which are sold at a nearby business centre.
Gold panners use the love for such small luxuries as a trap — to demand sexual intercourse.
Illegal miners operating in and around the gold rich Umzingwane district are coercing local girls as young as 10 or 13 into sex — inflicting violence and diseases on them.
“Most of these illegal miners are enticing teenage girls and women here in our communities. There are 11-, 12- and 13-year-old girls being bribed to be intimate just for sanitary wear and snacks,” says Talent Moyo, a Spotlight Initiative youth activist at Ezinkondweni.
“They offer money, clothes and small luxuries such as “amajiggies” in exchange for intimacy. Most of the time parents are not aware of this until the girls fall pregnant.”
Ezinkondweni is not the only area affected. Most other communities in Irisvale, Mawabeni, Esigodini and other parts of Umzingwane are all affected and are dealing with sexual violence, rape and sexual infections.
“Our district is going through its hardest times since the emergence of illegal miners,” said councillor Jabulani Makhala of Irisvale, in Ward 13 of Umzingwane.
“These miners abuse our young girls and women. There is little awareness of gender-based violence issues and the institutions that can offer help to the victims. I am grateful that UN Women, ZWLA and the Spotlight Initiative are raising awareness among our people about the rights of girls and women and the pathways they can get assistance.” To address problems related to early child sexual abuses and child marriages in Umzingwane, a consortia comprising the Government, ZWLA and other NGOs are spearheading programmes to raise awareness on the impact of GBV on young women, girls and boys.
The programmes running under the Spotlight Initiative supported through a partnership between the European Union (EU) and United Nations Women are aimed at ending violence against women and girls and harmful practices.
Zimbabwe is among the 20 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean which are participating in the four-year programme which started in 2019 and ends next year for the first phase.
The country was supported by the EU to the tune of US$30 million for the first phase to help Zimbabwe meet some of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3 and 5) on empowering women and girls to realise their full potential in a violence free, gender-responsive and inclusive environment.
There is a worrying trend of teenage rape and sexual abuse in the country.
About 220 Zimbabwean minors were raped between January and September 2022 out of a total of 435 reported rape cases in the country, according to the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
In addition, a total of 959 sexual violence cases and 1 038 domestic violence cases were reported during the same period.
Recently, a nine-year-old Tsholotsho girl was raped and fell pregnant. The girl was assisted to deliver her baby at United Bulawayo Hospital.
In other cases, a Norton girl and another — Annah Machaya died while giving birth.
Apart from this, there is a case before the courts of a couple who have been sexually abusing their two children aged 9 and 11.
Reports also abound that at Esikhoveni Secondary School in Umzingwane, that about 30 girls aged between 13 and 16 fall pregnant every year.
“The police try their best to investigate the cases and apprehend the perpetrators. I know you complain a lot about the granting of bail to these perpetrators. Everyone has a right to get bail and to seek legal advice,” said Sergeant Fatuma Phiri, of the Victim Friendly Unit at Esigodini Police Station.
“When you see them walking freely here, it does not mean we have let them go. The cases are still open and going. The wheels of justice turn slowly and when there is sufficient evidence these perpetrators will be jailed.
“The only problem we have is that people do not want to come and testify at the courts. This kills most cases as our courts require evidence to convict these criminals.”
Juliet Mukoki, a programme officer of the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Associationand co-ordinator for the Spotlight Initiative said substance abuse, excessive use of sexual enhancements, lack of awareness and other factors were creating a crisis of teenage pregnancies in the district.
“We should report cases of abuse of our young girls. We have Spotlight Initiative activists here who can help you to report the cases and take you to the one-stop centre for counselling, health service support and for legal advice,” she said.
“Let us take advantage of these people and let us work together to end GBV cases here.”
Alice Dube of Ezinkondweni suggested that it was important to have suggestion boxes where locals could drop reports of sexual abuse.
“We need suggestion boxes here at our business centre so that we can report these cases without being known. It is dangerous at times to be known that you have made a report of a perpetrator of sexual abuse,” she said.
Other people said community watch groups should be created to help locals handle sexual abuse cases. Holding drama and community awareness campaigns was also suggested as a solution.
UN Women communications specialist Innocent Katsande said empowerment of local communities to find their own solutions was critical. “Women should not be left to fight alone. In our social discourse, there should never be room for women to be taken advantage of, especially based on their economic status.
“Authorities should always send a clear message that perpetrators of GBV will be prosecuted. The empowerment of women and girls should be holistic and sustainable.”
And, despite the teenage pregnancy turmoil, young school boys in Umzingwane are a redemption song.
“We have a crisis of teenage pregnancies here in Umzingwane. We have to teach men about this and how they can play their part to end GBV. Despite all these problems I am happy to tell you that children at our local primary school raised money through their own savings to buy pads for girls at their school,” said councillor Elijah Nkala of Mawabeni. – The Herald
