Sexual reproductive health rights divide opinion

By Faith Tevera   

There were mixed reactions to the subject of  minors accessing contraceptives in a meeting organized by The Women Institute for Leadership  Development (WILD) held a program on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) on Wednesday at the Bulawayo Art Gallery. 

Different stakeholders differed on the extent to which sexual reproductive health rights should be upheld especially when it comes to minors accessing contraceptives.
Shanice Sibanda, a Human Rights lawyer who coordinated the discussion asserted that SRHR are universal rights and they apply to anyone and everyone in Zimbabwe. She pointed out that the Sexual Reproductive Health Rights were further enforced in the Constitution of Zimbabwe in 2012 to help women have rights they did not have in the Rhodesian era.

“According to Chapter 2, Section 29 of the Constitution, the state must take all necessary measures to guarantee access for everyone to medical treatment ,education and public awareness as everyone has the right to health services.” said Sibanda.

From the same Chapter 2 of the Constitution, other issues arose which included the controversial issue of availing contraceptives to minors in light of Chapter 2’s provision which stipulates that everyone must have access to contraceptives in keeping with the right to health services enshrined in the Constitution.
However, some parents expressed concern over  under age children having access to contraceptives citing that it would lead to premature engagement in sexual activities particularly among the new generation born after the year 2000 nicknamed ‘ama 2000.’ This, they argued would destroy future generations.

Shanice Sibanda highlighted the difference between the age of consent to sex and the legal age of majority. She explained  that the age of consent is the time at which a person is legaly competent to agree or disagree to sex whilst the age of the majority refers to the time when the person can take their own legal responsibilities.
A student from Mzilikazi High School said that peer and media pressure make it seemingly impossible to abstain from sex. She appealed to the elderly to help the young by educating the later on how to protect themselves from Sexually Transmitted Infections and early pregnancies.

Sinikiwe Sibanda, a middle aged woman opined  that youngsters should have access to contraceptives in order to avoid early unwanted pregnancies and STIs.

 “When I was giving birth at a maternity ward, I noticed a number of young girls around the age of 13 to 15 who were also delivering their babies. They could not give proper deliveries because their bodies were still immature. By giving these youngsters contraceptives and exposing them to more education on the SRHR, many lives would be saved,” said the concerned Sibanda while making  reference to Section 48 of the Constitution which guarantees the right to life. She further argued that no one should be at risk when giving birth.

Another student, however, begged to differ while stating that contraceptives would encourage minors to engage in sexual activities which violate African culture. She contended that having sexual intercourse before marriage is taboo in the African context.
Some of the attendees also mentioned that it was much better to revert back to the African Culture of preaching abstinence and the maligned practice of virginity testing as this would create a culture of abstinence and a sense of responsibility where people take pride in not indulging in sex prematurely.

Suggestions were made to WILD, imploring the organisation to conduct outreach programs in residential areas like Cowdray Park which would create SRHR awareness in young women to mitigate against teenage pregnancies and STIs which are allegedly on the rise in these high density suburbs.