Child Prostitution Rocks Zimbabwe

MASVINGO province is grappling with disturbing phenomena of child prostitution at most busy leisure spots, fuelling incidents of Sexually Transmitted Infections, an official has said.

In an interview on the sidelines of HIV and Aids campaign road show held at 4 1 Infantry Brigade Combat Group in Masvingo yesterday National Aids Council (NAC) provincial manager, Edgar Muzulu said there was a worrying trend of young girls found at HIV and Aids hot spots soliciting for sex.

“There is a worrying trend of child prostitution where girls as young as 12 years are found soliciting for transactional sex from mainly truck drivers at busy leisure spots,” said Muzulu.

According to statistics we collected from clinics near these hot spots, we realised that there is an increase of at least 20 percent in incidents of STIs.

“This was recorded at the clinic around Mhandamabwe Business Centre, Ngundu Business Centre in Chivi, Lundi Business Centre in Mwenezi, Jerera Business Centre in Zaka and Chigarapasi Beerhall in Chiredzi in 2018.

“At Lundi and Chiredzi, which are the worst hit hot spots, we had more than 300 cases as compared to 200 the previous year,” he said.

He said the situation was scuttling efforts towards achieving zero new HIV infections by 2030.

“We are continuing with our traditional interventions of health awareness campaigns like what we are doing today at 4 1 Infantry Brigade.

“We, however, have specific interventions, tailored for young girls so that they do not venture into prostitution. We have sister to sister programme where we make use of mentorship strategies.