The Sunday News
FAMILIES settled at Chingwizi in Mwenezi are grappling with serious Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and child pregnancies as prostitution takes its toll amid stalking hunger.
About 3 000 families were evacuated from Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam flood in Chivi due to floods which saw homes, property and livestock destroyed. The situation has left young girls from the ages of 14 years engaging in transactional sex to eke out a living with some dropping out of school.
Village head Langton Magwizi told Sunday News that a number of young girls are forced into prostitution and falling pregnant as a result because of drought affecting the settlement. He said some of the girls between the ages of 14 and 18 have fallen pregnant and some are seen at the nearest business centres soliciting for transactional sex with truck drivers and some workers from the nearest Triangle Estate.
He said there were food shortages in all 67 villages that include Magwizi, Matengu, Mateveke, Chimounda, Reganeni, Mahwandavaka, and Nungira, among others.
“We have a problem of child pregnancies here because young girls are now resorting to sleeping with adults. Others have resorted to prostitution where transactional sex has become the order of the day,” said Village head Magwizi.
“A number of these girls have been treated for STIs at the clinic which is far from the villages. We pray that Government helps by allowing established settlement here. We have been told that we will be moved but it is taking long and yet we want to lead normal lives, fend for our families through tilling the land,” he said.
National Aids Council (NAC) provincial coordinator Mr Evos Makoni said STI cases were on the increase among young girls, adding it could be the stalking drought prevailing which forces young girls into prostitution.
“We have serious cases of STIs at the settlement. I think there is need to conscientise villagers on the importance of having protected sex. Drought has also worsened the situation as parents cannot afford to fend for their children given the El-Nino phenomenon,” said Mr Makoni.
He said the random survey taken at Chingwizi Clinic shows that cases of STIs at the settlement have increased drastically in the past months and it is mostly affecting, the 15-29 age group.
Plan International Zimbabwe Child Rights Coordinator Mr Vincent Muzenda told a regional court meeting in Masvingo recently that the situation was serious as a number of children were getting pregnant at a tender age.
“We have received reports of children who have been impregnated at Chingwizi settlement. We made our investigations and provided safety nets for some of the children as well as counselling them.
“Their cases are now handled by the courts,” said Mr Muzenda.
Contacted for comment Provincial medical director Dr Amadeaus Shamu confirmed that there is a problem of STIs in most areas near the highways but said he did not have new statistics for Chingwizi.
