Co-incidence or collusion: An Analysis of the Relationship between the Proposal to Ban the use of Contraceptives and Lowering the Age of Consent in Zimbabwe

Abstract

In this study, a look at developmental pronouncements made by public officials titled Proposal A and Proposal B which suggest: a) the banning of the use of contraceptives to encourage rapid population growth which the public official believes could in turn, drive the growth of the economy, and, b) lowering of the age of consent to twelve years are made.  Both proposals by these experts in their separate fields do not appear focussed on children’s best interests as is inherent in the Zimbabwe Constitution (2013), the African Children’s Charter and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Zimbabwe is a signatory to both charters. The present paper, taking a social psychological approach, examines the combined ramifications of the two suggestions to find out to what extent these policies are child sensitive and how any enactment of these potential proposals could impact on girl children in particular and Zimbabwean society at large. While both proposals were intended as panaceas for the two unrelated social situations, it was found that that, if passed into law, the two proposals would severely affect children’s sexual rights and also swell the already dangerous levels of poverty in Zimbabwe.