C S E C The Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/childprostitution/Zimbabwe.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in Zimbabwe. Some of these
links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated,
misleading or even false. No attempt
has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of child prostitution are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring how children got started, how they survive, and
how some succeed in leaving. Perhaps
your paper could focus on runaways and the abuse that led to their
leaving. Other factors of interest
might be poverty, rejection, drug dependence, coercion, violence, addiction,
hunger, neglect, etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to write about the manipulative and dangerous adults
who control this activity. There is a
lot to the subject of Child Prostitution.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. HELP for Victims International Organization for
Migration ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** A 15-Year-Old's
Story of Prostitution - Poverty and
cynicism in Harare, Zimbabwe keep young women from escaping Nelson G. Katsande, OhmyNews, NELKA,
2006-August-15 english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=310922&rel_no=1 [accessed 18 August
2011] Tambudzai, age 15,
grew up on a farm in Mazowe, northeast of Harare. Her mother died in a bus
accident when she was barely six. Her father was a farm laborer, and after
the farm was sold to new owners they were forced to leave. Her father died a
few months later after succumbing to a bout of malaria. Following his
death, poverty was unavoidable. Tambudzai was expelled from school for
non-payment of fees, and none of her father's relatives offered to help. Her
dream of becoming a nurse had been shattered. Left to fend for herself, she
was lured into the venality of city life and found herself in Harare.
There she met other girls of her age who were already into prostitution, and
she gave in to irresistible temptation. ***
ARCHIVES *** Hunger and poverty make young girls sell their bodies Jeffrey Moyo,D+C Development and Cooperation, 15 February 2021 www.dandc.eu/en/article/zimbabwe-seeing-spike-child-prostitution-poverty-and-hunger-spread [accessed 15 February 2021] As
Zimbabwe’s economic crisis deepens, the country is seeing an increase in
child prostitution, sometimes involving girls as young as 12. Hungry
and desperate child prostitutes are appearing on streets all over the
country, not only in mining towns. They ply their trade in in the capital
Harare and in remote border towns frequented by long-distance truckers. Many of
the girls have dropped out of school, as their families cannot pay school
fees. In 2019, about 60% of Zimbabwe’s children in primary school were sent
home for failing to pay fees, according to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability
Assessment Committee. Others, like Tracy and Melisa, have been orphaned. ECPAT Regional
Overview: The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Africa [PDF] ECPAT International,
November 2014 www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Regional%20CSEC%20Overview_Africa.pdf [accessed 10
September 2020] Maps sexual
exploitation of children in travel and tourism (SECTT), online child sexual
exploitation (OCSE), trafficking of children for sexual purposes, sexual
exploitation of children through prostitution, and child early and forced
marriage (CEFM). Other topics include gender inequality, armed conflicts,
natural disasters, migration, and HIV/AIDS. Human
Rights Reports » 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 10, 2020 www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/zimbabwe/ [accessed 10
September 2020] SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN - Conviction of statutory rape, legally defined as
sexual intercourse with a child younger than age 12, carries a fine of 2,000
Zimbabwe dollars (RTGS) ($125), up to 10 years’ imprisonment, or both. A
person in possession of child pornography may be charged with public
indecency; convictions result in a 600 RTGS dollars ($40) fine, imprisonment
for up to six months, or both. A conviction of procuring a child younger than
age 16 for purposes of engaging in unlawful sexual conduct results in a fine
up to 5,000 RTGS dollars ($300), up to 10 years’ imprisonment, or both.
Persons charged with facilitating the prostitution of a child often were also
charged with statutory rape. A parent or guardian convicted of allowing a
child younger than age 18 to associate with or become a prostitute may face
up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Girls from towns bordering South Africa,
Zambia, and Mozambique were subjected to prostitution in brothels that
catered to long-distance truck drivers. Increasing economic hardships
contributed to more girls engaging in prostitution. 2018 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child
Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, US Dept of Labor, 2019 www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2018/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf [accessed 10
September 2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 1241] Zimbabwean children
living in border towns are trafficked to Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique,
and Zambia, where they become victims of commercial sexual exploitation and
forced labor in domestic work. Zimbabwean children, especially orphans, are
sometimes lured by relatives with the promise of education or adoption, but
instead are recruited to work within the country as domestic workers or
forced to work in mining, drug smuggling, or other illegal activities. (2,28) In addition, the deterioration of Zimbabwe’s economy,
along with drought and cholera outbreaks, increase the vulnerability of
children to labor exploitation. (29-31) An NGO conducted research that
revealed that girls under age 18 engaged in commercial sex due to push
factors, such as the breakdown of the family unit, poverty, and gender-based
violence. (4,32) The Curse of Child
Prostitution Vimbai Komani,
The Herald, 10 April 2009 allafrica.com/stories/200904100077.html [accessed 18 August
2011] "My heart
bleeds when I see young girls of primary school level engaging in
prostitution. More hotels in the country have become notorious in
entertaining these young girls that are seen loitering at their foyers and
their premises as they search for clients," says Trevor Mutunami from Nyamapanda, a
town bordering Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Child prostitution,
however, is not only about little girls as young boys are also increasingly
being targeted. The International
Organisation for Migration has identified this as a growing problem in Chiredzi where boys are leaving for South Africa where
they get work as "comforters", mainly for widows. AIDS, Pregnancy and
Poverty Trap Ever More African Girls Sharon LaFraniere, New York Times, Patrice Lumumba Mozambique,
June 3, 2005 [accessed 18 August
2011] But for the last 25
years, the trends had been positive. African girls, like girls elsewhere,
were marrying later, and a growing percentage were
in school. The AIDS epidemic now
threatens to take away those hard-won gains. Orphaned and impoverished by the
deaths of parents, girls here are being propelled into sex at shockingly
early ages to support themselves, their siblings and, all too often, their
own children. In Zimbabwe, a new
UNICEF study has found that orphaned girls are three times more likely to
become infected than are girls whose parents are alive. In Zambia, orphaned
girls are the first to be withdrawn from school. Five Years After
Stockholm [PDF] ECPAT: Fifth Report
on implementation of the Agenda for Action ECPAT International,
November 2001 www.no-trafficking.org/content/web/05reading_rooms/five_years_after_stockholm.pdf [accessed 13
September 2011] [B]
COUNTRY UPDATES – ZIMBABWE – Reports indicate that CSEC is a rising problem in
Zimbabwe. In recent years, poor macroeconomic performance and political
instability have had an adverse effect on the welfare of children and have
thus increased their vulnerability to CSEC. CHILDREN: Those The
Anti-AIDS Campaigners Forget Isabella Matambanadzo, Inter Press Service News Agency IPS, Harare,
5 June 1996 www.aegis.com/news/ips/1996/IP960601.html [accessed 18 August
2011] Generally, the boys
do odd jobs such as guarding parked cars, while the girls beg. But destitution transforms many children of
both sexes into easy prey for people who sexually exploit them in exchange
for a little money, warm clothes, a pair of old shoes or simply a hot meal.
The children's immaturity and powerlessness make them less likely than, for
example, commercial sex workers, to insist on condoms. This increases their
chances of being infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV. Analysis of the
Situation of Sexual Exploitation of Children in the Eastern and Southern
Africa Region Draft Consultancy
Report Prepared as a component of the UNICEF – ESARO & ANPPCAN Partnership Project on Sexual
Exploitation and Children’s Rights, October, 2001, Nairobi, Kenya www.unicef.org/events/yokohama/csec-east-southern-africa-draft.html#_Toc527979963 [accessed 18 August
2011] [4.1]
FACTORS PREDISPOSING CHILDREN TO COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION –
INTRODUCTION
- [7] Demand for Sexual Services: The
phenomenon of sugar daddies and sugar mummies is common in the region in
countries such as Kenya, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, and Mozambique and
is steadily rising in Zimbabwe. Children are wooed by gifts, presents,
money and other material rewards in return to sex. Sex tourism is growing due
to an influx of tourists in the region. Pimps, madams, middlemen and parents
or others facilitate child prostitution in many societies within the
region. Child prostitution occurs in brothels, massage parlors,
streets, bars and discotheques. Lower prices charged by young girls sometimes
fuel the demand for child prostitutes. The girl prostitutes are easily
controlled by bar owners and ‘madams’ and hence owners of brothels seek out
young girls since they can easily be exploited. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2005 www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/zimbabwe.htm [accessed 17 January
2011] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Over the past few years, the number of children
living on the streets has continued to rise and there are reports of children
involved in commercial sexual exploitation. Zimbabwe is considered a source
and transit country for a small number of children trafficked for forced
labor and sexual exploitation. Within Zimbabwe, a small number of children are
reportedly trafficked internally to southern border towns for commercial
sexual exploitation. CHILD
LABOR LAWS AND ENFORCEMENT - The Penal Code prohibits children from visiting or residing
in a brothel, and prohibits anyone from causing the seduction, abduction, or
prostitution or children. Under the Sexual Offenses Act of 2001, a person
convicted of prostituting a child under the age of 12 years is subject to a
fine of up to ZWD 35,000 (USD 6.00) or imprisonment of up to 7 years. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61600.htm [accessed 11
February 2020] CHILDREN
-
There were an estimated 1.3 million HIV/AIDS orphans by year's end, and the
number was increasing. The number of AIDs orphans (including children who
lost one as well as both parents) was about 10 percent of the country's
population. Many grandparents were left to care for the young, and, in some
cases, children or adolescents headed families and were forced to work to
survive. AIDS orphans and foster children were at high risk for child abuse.
Some children were forced to turn to prostitution as a means of income.
According to local custom, other family members inherit before children,
leaving many children destitute. Many such children were unable to obtain
birth certificates, which then prevented them from obtaining social services. TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
- There were reports of child prostitution, trafficking in children, and
child labor. NGOs reported an increase in child prostitution since Operation
Restore Order. As with adults, reports suggested that those children in
desperate economic circumstances, especially those in families headed by
children, were most at risk. One local NGO reported that traffickers took
girls from rural areas to city brothels in cities under the false pretenses
of job or marriage promises. The NGO reported that rural girls were sometimes
trafficked to farms as agricultural labor or to urban areas as domestic labor,
where they were sometimes sexually abused. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
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ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof.
Martin, "Child Prostitution - Zimbabwe",
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