‘Girls, young women more vulnerable to sexual violence’

THE United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has said adolescent girls and young women face a higher risk of contracting HIV and Aids, exposure to early pregnancy and sexual violence in Zimbabwe.

In a recent report, Unicef said in 2021, one out of four (24%) young women aged 20-24 had given birth before the age of 18, while nearly one in 10 girls experienced sexual violence during childhood, which is nine times the rate experienced by boys.

This follows another report by the National Aids Council, which said of the 1,2 million people living with HIV in the country, 60% were women.

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