Minors are travelling from as far away as Gweru and Masvingo to work in areas such as Seminary, Boterekwa and The Village. 24-year-old Hope Gova, a panner from Cha-Cha-Cha in Zvishavane, said the young girls often lie about their age in order to attract clients. “The majority of the girls look all grown up and if they lie about their age, it is easy to fall for it,” he said.
Following the panners
Auxilia Botha, a gold buyer from Mambowa suburb, said the majority of the girls first come on the pretext of selling various wares but end up trading their bodies for as little as $1. She said the children follow the panners to areas where they discover gold.
“Sex with underage girls is very cheap. A panner can be charged $5 or even $2 for the whole night and sometimes the panners take advantage of the minors and have sex with them for free,” she said.
Grace Shereni (not real name) from Gweru is 14-years-old and said she resorted to prostitution out of desperation. “I have tried selling cigarettes and vegetables in Gweru but we are always harassed by municipal police and because business is very low, I could not sustain the family,” she said. When she first came to Shurugwi, she was a trader but realised that she could make more money in the sex trade.
A report released by UNICEF on child protection asserts that there are over 1,3 million orphaned children in Zimbabwe, of which 1 million are due to AIDS related deaths. The HIV/ AIDS pandemic has undermined individual, family and community coping mechanisms thereby destroying the social and cultural institutions. Accordingly, children continue to face the brunt of poverty as child labour, sexual abuse and trafficking remain issues of concern as is the capacity of legal, security and welfare professionals to respond to the needs of vulnerable children.
Post published in: News
Poverty has killed isizwe sethu, bakethu asibambane sifake lezingane eskoleni…. Esho ecabanga umntana wakhe
I’ve never seen so much language in favor of slavery before in one place. The quote says “Sex with underage girls…” Woah! There is no SEX with UNDERAGE *girls*! That is called rape or in this case paid rape. If a child cannot eat without selling her body, it is not a choice, and taking advantage of that is rape. Rapists use POWER over their victims. Furthermore, if you cared about these children, stop calling them “Child Prostitutes”.
“The majority of the girls look all grown up and if they lie about their age, it is easy to fall for it,†If it is the MAJORITY of the *girls* lying about their age why would you take a better than 50% chance on raping a child? Hold the men accountable, help the girls!