Does Parliamentary committee want to push age of sexual consent down to 12 years? - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
March 8, 2019
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, votermobilisation portal, Go Zim tweetedthat the Zimbabwe Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Carewas pushing for the age of sexual consent to be reduced from 16 to 12 years.
VERDICT: False.
At least two membersof the committee, including its chairperson, Dr Ruth Labode, say Go Zim misunderstood the committee’sdrive 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 towardsaligning the age of sexual consent, currently 16 years, with the age of maritalconsent, which is 18 years, according to the Constitution.
How did the confusion
arise?
According to DrLabode, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care met inKadoma 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 newConstitution and to meet current conditions in the health sector.
“The issue is aboutminors’ 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 needa provision for 16 year olds who, in terms of the current law, can consent tosex, to be able to access health services even without their parents,” Labodesaid.
“Because a 16-year-oldis a minor, she cannot, for instance, get contraceptives or get STI treatmentwithout her parents. The committee never said anything about reducing the ageof consent, we actually support calls to raise it. We don’t know where thatcame from.”
Another committeemember, 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 forthe alignment of the law on the age of consent to the age of majority of 18.”
A question of access
to health
Rights groups saylegal inconsistencies around sexual and marriage consent put sexuallyadolescent girls at risk.
According to anAmnesty International report; confusion around the legal age ofconsent for sex, marriage and accessing health services is leaving adolescentgirls more vulnerable to unwanted pregnancies and at higher risk of HIVinfection.
“Thereality is that many adolescents are sexually active before they are 18 and thegovernment must act to ensure that they can access the services and advice theyneed to help safeguard their health and their futures,” says Deprose Muchena,Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Southern Africa.
“Whileage of consent provisions may be intended to protect against sexual abuse andchild marriage, it is unacceptable that they be used to deny adolescents theirrights to sexual and reproductive health information and services.”
AmnestyInternational says demographic health data shows that, in Zimbabwe, 40% ofgirls and 24% of boys are sexually active before they reach the age of 18.
What does the law
say?
A January 20, 2016Constitutional Court ruling effectively set 18 as the minimum age of marriage.
However, the CriminalLaw Codification Act sets the age of sexual consent at 16 years. This means 16year olds can still have sex, even though they are not allowed to get married.
Since theConstitutional Court ruling, there has been a campaign to have the age ofsexual consent aligned to the age of marriage consent.
In March 2017, thenVice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told Parliament that government wasconsidering raising the age of sexual consent to 18 years, in line with theminimum age of marriage.
Conclusion
The ParliamentaryPortfolio Committee on Health and Child Care is not pushing for the reductionin the age of sexual consent. It is, however, championing access to health carefor sexually active persons below the age of 18 years, who currently requireparental consent to access sexual health services.
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