The effects of hard or soft pornography on a child and in young adults are dire psychological ones, in the sense that it disorientates a person’s sexual control and logic, thus the progressing rate of rape, pedophilia, early child marriages, prostitution, indecency, and adultery. Femicide is also now a norm in various communities throughout Africa, especially with the cross-border trafficking of narcotics that has broken communities and continues to do so.
The rate of sex solicitation in Zimbabwe has reached an alarming degree, and the gloomy chain of it all is that sex solicitation and coercion within working spaces, universities, social media, and emerging full-time brothels has ruined the image and value of women in our societies, hence the lack of efficient male support when it concerns abuse, rape, child marriages, or other injustices.
With the growing power of pornography and soft pornography portrayed on TV and Netflix, the sacredness of sexual intercourse and respect for another person’s body have been whipped right out of our society’s culture and conscience. It has become a known issue in the country that the chances of women having extramarital affairs or experiencing sexual assault in university, school, work, and at home have reached an unprecedented rate.
The treatment of women in the military and in politics has also been an obstacle when it concerns educating on and addressing the injustices of gender discrimination and violence.The Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) actually confirms that the growing decline of women participating in politics has been due to the violent treatment and threats one may receive if they happen to plan on taking up leadership positions, if it’s a government’s practice, it will become the nation’s habit.
The living standards and safety of women and children are a reflection of a nation’s wealth, global status, and levels of competence. Unfortunately, evidence highlights a great weakness in Zimbabwean societies and an overly sexualized aura, which has ruined the purpose of customary law and marriage itself, the safety of women, and public morale.
To address GBV, there is a need to scrutinize the root causes and introduce laws and policies that regulate issues of infidelity, sexual harassment, and unprofessional relations in companies, universities, and organizations, and more importantly, efficient regulations pertaining to sexual content in media and television.
If the male mind is well educated and cured from the lethal effects of sexual content, there will be greater progress in advocating for women’s economic, academic, and sexual rights. A generation of well-disciplined citizens will focus their time and youth on building the nation through innovative developmental programs instead of burning out on drugs and lust.
Long-term initiatives that can limit the rate of GBV and child marriages in Zimbabwe crucially include education and awareness; ignorance may be bliss, but however self-detrimental. Zimbabwe’s decision to allow GBV into the academic curriculum shows a positive stance against physical and sexual violence based on gender; this comes after eight major universities across Zimbabwe signed an agreement last year 2024 with the Zimbabwe Council of Social Workers and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The partnership aims to equip social workers and scholars studying similar courses with psychosocial expertise and the preparedness to assess complex and sensitive GBV cases that may require comprehensive support, counseling, and rehabilitation.
Educating scholars and the general public as a whole on the phenomenon of GBV in societies and women’s importance will equip the next generation of policymakers, civil servants, and social workers with a greater understanding of handling issues concerning sexual violence and the victims in question.
The community will be educated on the dangers of rejecting or shunning rape and GBV victims and how it essentially affects the Zimbabwean culture, industries, and the family nucleus.