Parliament is scheduled to expedite the issuance of a law criminalizing sexual or indecent relations with those under the age of 18 after issuing it under presidential powers that last for six months.
The National Assembly and Senate are scheduled to resume their sessions next month and are set to prioritize enacting amendments to the Criminal Laws (Protection of Children and Youth), a legal instrument that has already entered into legal force after President Mnangagwa used his powers to promulgate it.
Once enacted by Parliament, the law will form part of the country’s legal system.
In an interview, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi said Parliament would have to prioritize the bill once it is published in the Official Gazette when it reconvenes.
“The reason we used the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act is because we wanted to bridge the gap that had been created. So we have a window to pass the law through Parliament and we have a period of six months,” Minister Ziyambi said.
It is expected that Parliament will soon publish the draft law in the Official Gazette so that it will be presented to the plenary session for discussion and will be approved with or without amendments.
Two weeks ago, President Mnangagwa used his powers under the Presidential Powers (Provisional Measures) Legal Instrument No. 2 of 2024 in the Official Gazette, and the Presidential Powers (Provisional Measures) (Criminal Laws (Protection of Children and Young People)) Regulations 2024.
This makes the age of consent for sexual relations at 18, consistent with the Constitution which sets the age of consent at that level.
Initially, the law on consent to sexual relations was set in legislative law at 16 years of age, then it was raised to 18 years after the Constitutional Court ruled that the minimum age for marriage set at 18 years in the Constitution also logically applies to the age of consent, so it was raised To 18.
I took the opportunity to include acts that any reasonable person would consider indecent, and to make clear that even asking someone under 18 to engage in sexual or indecent acts is a crime.
Penalties are set at level 12 fine or imprisonment for a maximum of 10 years.
The regulations make clear that sexual relations with someone under 12 are defined as rape if the child is a girl or indecent assault if it is a boy, with penalties being much higher with longer prison sentences being the norm.
An acceptable defense for someone who has sexual relations with a person under 18 years of age is still to be able to show that the person has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is over 18 years of age, but minor demonstrations of physical or sexual maturity will not be accepted.
The new law is expected to end the threat of men assaulting young girls, especially teenage girls, some of whom may be of school age.
If teens less than three years apart are involved in sexual or indecent acts, or if the person is under 18 and technically an adult but less than three years older, prosecution can be waived.
The authorities have in the past been, and can now continue to do so, more content to treat such violations as requiring counselling, rather than prosecution.
However, the full force of the law will apply when an older person wants to have sex with a teenager.
But since there may be special circumstances, the Public Prosecutor reserves the right to bring charges to court even when the age gap is less than three years.
Zimbabweans have since welcomed the passing of the law making it an offense to initiate or have any sexual or indecent relations with anyone under the age of 18.
