HARARE, Zimbabwe – “I had sex thinking he loved me. But when I fell pregnant, I saw a very unexpected side of him,” 20-year-old Olivia Nyangasi told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency.
Ms. Nyangasi had never been taught how to practice safe sex. At 17, she became pregnant; but her boyfriend denied all responsibility for the situation. He tried to force her to get an abortion.
Across low- and middle-income countries around the world, adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 experience 21 million pregnancies a year, according to 2019 research by the Guttmacher Institute. Nearly half are unintended, and almost 6 million end in abortion – many of which are not conducted safely.
Pregnancy and childbirth are among the world’s top drivers of preventable death for adolescent girls. And in Zimbabwe, girls who become unexpectedly pregnant often find themselves pressured into marriage, even as children.
Ms. Nyangasi was forced by her mother and relatives to go live with her boyfriend, who subjected her to horrific violence and sexual and emotional abuse. After a while, she fled into the mountains and stayed there for two weeks, surviving on food rations her friend snuck out for her.
Knowing she needed a more sustainable solution, Ms. Nyangasi sought help from her local Department of Social Welfare, which referred her to a UNFPA-supported safe space. “[They] were able to provide me food and temporary shelter and negotiate with my parents to take me back home,” she said.
Community advocacy
Since 1988, Musasa – the non-governmental organization where Ms. Nyangasi received support – has been providing safe shelter, medical and legal services, and psychosocial counselling to survivors of gender-based violence.
As the brother of a survivor recounted in 2022: “Musasa helped with taking [my sister] to the hospital for medical attention, then to the police to report the case; protection papers were drafted and they constantly check on her.
“The perpetrator used to threaten [my sister] that if she didn’t come back, he would come for her. But since the protection order was granted, we never heard from him.”
Musasa also provides women and girls with access to family planning, a critical service in Zimbabwe, where adolescent pregnancy rates have risen since 2016, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Teenage pregnancy has become a serious developmental issue in Zimbabwe,” said UNFPA Zimbabwe representative Miranda Tabifor. “It is heartbreaking that we continue to lose so many young girls as a result of teenage pregnancies.”
One of the most effective means of preventing unplanned pregnancy is through contraceptives. Yet less than half of sexually active married girls aged 15 to 19 and fewer than four in ten of their unmarried counterparts are using modern contraceptives, according to UNFPA research.
“Parents leave discussions on sexuality to science or biology lessons. At home, they don’t want to talk about it,” a 33-year-old comprehensive sexuality educator in Zimbabwe told UNFPA. “This means that children do not openly discuss their sexual activities until they are pregnant.”
Change norms, change the world
Ms. Nyangasi was reunited with her family. “But even after going home, life remained very difficult,” she said.
Social and gender norms around the world project stigma on survivors of gender-based violence, pregnant adolescents and unmarried mothers. They also fuel abuse and perpetuate issues such as unplanned pregnancies and child marriage.
Addressing these challenges requires changing these norms and beliefs, a goal the Government of Zimbabwe is working with UNFPA to accomplish through the “Not in my Village” campaign.
Led by adolescents and young people and guided by community leaders, the campaign seeks to raise awareness, especially among girls, of the effects of adolescent pregnancy and to drive demand and knowledge of sexual and reproductive health services.
“So far, the campaign has led 26 chiefs from seven districts to develop by-laws that articulate individual, family and joint community actions to be undertaken to reduce teenage pregnancy and child marriages,” said UNFPA Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Specialist Blessing Nyagumbo.
“The by-laws seek to safeguard young girls without undermining their rights so that they complete school and reach their full potential in life.”
