Zimbabwe sees teenage pregnancy rise in pandemic

A three-month old toddler cries incessantly from inside a barely-furnished two-room house in Murehwa, a rural area about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.

But the mother, 13-year old Virginia Mavhunga, has too much on her hands to offer him comfort as she tries to get the house chores done.

While her peers are in class, Virginia has her own strict routine: Prepare her four younger siblings for school, followed by several trips to the well balancing a 20-liter (5 gallon) water bucket on her head.

Around mid-morning, she is off to the roadside, a kilometer away, to sell wild fruits and vegetables to passing motorists to raise money for her baby's welfare.

And then it's back home at dusk to prepare the evening meal, wash more clothes and help her younger siblings with homework.

Zimbabwe has seen a significant rise in teenage pregnancies since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with the strict 6-month lockdown that followed.

Virginia said she had hoped the older man who impregnated her would marry her.

Despite initial promises, he ultimately denied paternity, she said. She and her family did not follow through on a statutory rape case with police, despite Zimbabwean law putting the age of consent at 16.

Under the law, people convicted of sexual intercourse or "an indecent act" with anyone younger than 16 can get a fine or up to 10 years in jail.

But most incidents never get that far. Families and officials have long tried "to sweep the cases under the carpet or ... force marriages on the minor," according to the police spokesman Paul Nyathi.

Families often try to negotiate with the offender, pressuring him to marry the girl and give her family cattle or money, according to Nyathi.

Then they agree to not report the case to police - ultimately "assisting in the abuse of the girl," he said.

Police said they could not provide any figures related to prosecuted or reported cases.

Virginia said she stopped going to school when she found out she was pregnant.

"I got pregnant at 12 years. I was at school in January (2021) when I realized I was pregnant then I stopped going to school in March," she said.

She added that her mother went to the police when she found out about the pregnancy, but the man was released on bail due to mishandling of the case.

The government, non-governmental organizations and the affected say COVID-19-induced lockdowns, which increased idleness, poverty and shut out many girls from accessing contraceptives, led to a steep increase in unintended pregnancies.

"Lockdown led to the abuse of many kids by people they know or stay with, because people were just in one place spending more time together," said Tsitsi Chitongo, a community worker for the Shamwari Yemwanasikana NGO.

"Coupled with a loss of focus by parents, who wouldn't suspect that someone staying with their kids can do such a thing. They didn't notice they just thought maybe it's just good relations among kids or between cousins not realizing there's something physical going on…This is what led to problem we're facing (pregnancy),"

More than 5,000 school girls below 18 fell pregnant between January and early February alone, according to the latest figures given by the Women's Affairs ministry in March.

Authorities and campaigners say the figures are an understatement as many more cases go unreported.

Many young girls drop out of school as soon as they find out they are pregnant and never return to finish their studies due to the stigma associated with falling pregnant while in school.

Virginia said she would like to go back to as soon she can.

"I am thinking of going back to school and restarting my grade 7 and proceeding to form 1.  Then I will decide what career path to take when I reach form 4."

The government took a new initiative in August 2020 as concern grew over the spike in child pregnancies, by implementing a change in policy to allow pregnant teens as well as new mothers to go back to school.

"Because of the policy that we have, this Education Amendment Act, which allows them to come back to school, we have been having community outreach programs throughout the whole nation to encourage these learners to come back to school to continue with their education because it's not the end of the world," said Taungana Ndoro, Communications Director in the Primary and Secondary Education Ministry.

Campaigners such as Chitongo have hailed the move as a significant step towards keeping the dreams of pregnant girls alive.

But getting the pregnant girls to return to school is proving to be a challenge that will require the breaking down of the traditional mindset of parents, schools and affected teens alike, says Chitongo.

"For a pregnant girl child to be back in school there is need to teach parents that it's possible for a child to go back to school."

After the March 2020 lockdown, attendance at a clinic run by Medecins San Frontieres plummeted from about 20 girls a day to one or two said Grace Mavhezha, MSF Field Communications Manager.

The clinic provides young girls and mothers with skills, by teaching them how to make liquid soap as well as how to do manicures and pedicures, which they can use to make a living, as well as provide for their families.

"These life skills training is empowering these girls because now they are looking for empowerment capacity building so that they get some money, after they are going to maybe to open some salons for pedicure and manicure or selling the liquid soap that they would have got training from here," she said.

Fortunately for Virginia, her father ignored advice from other community members to chase her away from home – a rare gesture that was however frowned upon by other men used to forcing pregnant girls to go and live with their so-called husbands.

Officials from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Welfare told Virginia and her parents that she could remain in school as the law now allowed it.

The AP generally does not name victims of sexual abuse without consent.

For this story, the girls and their families have agreed to be identified and have their names published, in keeping with their wishes to have their stories told.