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*Zimbabwe Raises Age Of Consent To 18*

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Legal experts and child rights advocates have warmly welcomed the enactment of the Criminal Laws Amendment (Protection of Children and Young Persons) Bill, 2024.

This landmark legislation raises the age of sexual consent from 16 to 18, strengthening protections for young people against sexual predators and early marriages.

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially signed the bill into law on Tuesday, following its passage through both Houses of Parliament in July.

The enactment was formally announced in a proclamation under General Notice 1441A of 2024, published in an Extraordinary Government Gazette by Martin Rushwaya, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet.

The new law aligns the age of sexual consent with the Constitution, which defines young people as individuals below 18 and sets the minimum marriage age at 18.

Previously, the law defined young people as those under 16, leaving 16- to 18-year-olds without adequate legal protection.

For context, the age of consent is defined as the minimum age at which an individual is considered legally capable of agreeing to sexual activity.

Constitutional law expert Professor Lovemore Madhuku, speaking to The Herald, praised the legislation as progressive, saying that it conforms with international best practices and standards. Said Prof Madhuku:

> This is a law that is progressive and conforms to international best practices and standards. It also aligns the law with the Constitution in line with the ruling of the Constitutional Court.

Professor Madhuku highlighted several key aspects of the new legislation:

Enhanced penalties: The law now imposes stricter sentences of up to 10 years imprisonment for child abusers, addressing a previous gap in the legal framework.
Strengthened protection: By establishing that individuals under 18 cannot legally consent to sexual activity, the law eliminates ‘consent’ as a potential defence for those who engage in sexual acts with minors.
Comprehensive safeguards: The legislation introduces punitive measures for individuals who transmit sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, to children and young persons.

Reverend Taylor Nyanhete, director of the Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children described the bill’s enactment as a significant step forward in child protection.

Addressing participants during a workshop facilitated by the Southern Africa Parliamentary Support Trust on children’s expectations from the 2025 National Budget, Rev Nyanhete said:

> Today (yesterday) people are celebrating because we now have a law and we hope that those who commit the crime (of sexually abusing children and young people) will also face the law and be able to serve the sentences for their crimes. So, this is one progressive thing.

Anesu Tazarurwa, child MP for Highfield Constituency, who was among child parliamentarians who attended the meeting, thanked the President for assenting to the law. Said Tazarurwa:

> I want to thank President Mnangagwa for signing the law as this will go a long way in protecting children and young persons from child marriages and sexual abuse and provide mechanisms to deal with perpetrators of such crimes.

The newly enacted law is the culmination of a legal journey that began with a landmark Constitutional Court (Concourt) ruling in May 2022.

This ruling exposed a critical gap in the Criminal Law Code, highlighting its failure to adequately protect children aged 16 to 18 from sexual exploitation.

In response to this judicial mandate, President Mnangagwa took swift action in January 2024. Invoking his authority under the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, he gazetted Statutory Instrument 2 of 2024.

This executive action was a direct response to the Concourt’s declaration that the existing law, which set the age of sexual consent at 16, was unconstitutional.

However, these presidential measures were inherently temporary, with a six-month validity period as stipulated by law.

This time constraint necessitated the prompt development and enactment of a more permanent, substantive law.

Parliament then drafted, debated, and passed the new legislation, which was officially gazetted on Tuesday.

In presenting the Bill before it was passed by the National Assembly and Senate, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi described it as a pertinent Bill that sought to align sections 61, 70, 76, 83 and 86 (of the Criminal Code) with the Constitution of Zimbabwe. He said:

> These sections define a young person as a person below the age of 16. However, the Constitution of Zimbabwe places 18 years as the age of majority.

Zimbabwe faces a pressing issue with the prevalence of child marriages and early pregnancies, particularly within certain religious communities, such as the white garment churches, including the Johanne Marange sect.

The impact of this problem is starkly illustrated by the statistics from 2023, which reveal that over 4,500 learners, including at least 150 primary school students, dropped out of school due to pregnancy.

More: Pindula News

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