A claim that a parliamentary committee seeks to lower the age of consent to 12 years has triggered outrage.
By ZimFact Staff
CLAIM: On Wednesday, 6 March 2019, voter mobilisation portal, Go Zim tweeted that the Zimbabwe Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care was pushing for the age of sexual consent to be reduced from 16 to 12 years.
VERDICT: False.
At least two members of the committee, including its chairperson, Dr Ruth Labode, say Go Zim misunderstood the committee’s drive to reduce the age of consent when it comes to access to health services, not sexual consent. In fact, the committee supports the current push towards aligning the age of sexual consent, currently 16 years, with the age of marital consent, which is 18 years, according to the Constitution.
How did the confusion arise?
According to Dr Labode, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care met in Kadoma last week to deliberate on proposed amendments to the Public Health Act. The current Act was enacted in 1924 and is being updated to align to the new Constitution and to meet current conditions in the health sector.
“The issue is about minors’ access to health. Our proposal to the Permanent Secretary of Health, Dr (Gerald) Gwinji was that, since we’re pushing the age of consent to 18, we need a provision for 16 year olds who, in terms of the current law, can consent to sex, to be able to access health services even without their parents,” Labode said.
“Because a 16-year-old is a minor, she cannot, for instance, get contraceptives or get STI treatment without her parents. The committee never said anything about reducing the age of consent, we actually support calls to raise it. We don’t know where that came from.”
Another committee member, Jasmine Toffa, responded to the Go Zim claim on Twitter:
“Not true. Access to health is the bone of contention. That is what we’re advocating for. Currently, one under 18 has to be accompanied by a parent to access health,” Toffa said.
“We are pushing for the alignment of the law on the age of consent to the age of majority of 18.”
A question of access to health
Rights groups say legal inconsistencies around sexual and marriage consent put sexually adolescent girls at risk.
According to an Amnesty International report; confusion around the legal age of consent for sex, marriage and accessing health services is leaving adolescent girls more vulnerable to unwanted pregnancies and at higher risk of HIV infection.
“The reality is that many adolescents are sexually active before they are 18 and the government must act to ensure that they can access the services and advice they need to help safeguard their health and their futures,” says Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Southern Africa.
“While age of consent provisions may be intended to protect against sexual abuse and child marriage, it is unacceptable that they be used to deny adolescents their rights to sexual and reproductive health information and services.”
Amnesty International says demographic health data shows that, in Zimbabwe, 40% of girls and 24% of boys are sexually active before they reach the age of 18.
What does the law say?
A January 20, 2016 Constitutional Court ruling effectively set 18 as the minimum age of marriage.
However, the Criminal Law Codification Act sets the age of sexual consent at 16 years. This means 16 year olds can still have sex, even though they are not allowed to get married.
Since the Constitutional Court ruling, there has been a campaign to have the age of sexual consent aligned to the age of marriage consent.
In March 2017, then Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told Parliament that government was considering raising the age of sexual consent to 18 years, in line with the minimum age of marriage.
Conclusion
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care is not pushing for the reduction in the age of sexual consent. It is, however, championing access to health care for sexually active persons below the age of 18 years, who currently require parental consent to access sexual health services.
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