By ILYANA Sithole, ZIMBA WAVE MEDIA. Harare
In a society where girls in their early teens are given away by their parents because of religion or poverty to be married to older men to acquire wealth, teenage pregnancy is considered a problem. Ample evidence provided by the Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Aids Research Zimbabwe (CeSHHAR), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other partners show a rise in adolescent pregnancy attributed to economic hardship.
Challenges associated with teenage pregnancy need to be addressed at length as they are socio-political and religious as well thereby demanding serious attention.
Today’s world exposes teenagers to perpetrators due to parents migrating in search of greener pastures. With thousands migrating to the UK and South Africa in search for a better life, children are being left to fend for themselves.
UNFPA reports that, “The upsurge in parental migration has undermined family structures leaving children alone or under the care of de facto caregivers thereby increasing children’s vulnerability to risky sexual behavior and sexual abuse”.
With parents away and children left in the care of their grandparents or aunts / uncles, misbehaving is the order of the day due to pop culture and keeping up with trends. Keeping them under one’s watchful eye 24/7 becomes difficult as the caregiver also needs to provide for the children. They are then exposed to pornographic materials, lifestyles that expose them to abuse and online perpetrators preying for vulnerable children.
“Lack of parental care and supervision because of parents or caregivers’ long working hours and prolonged absence from home has fueled adolescent pregnancies through consensual sex, transactional sex and sexual abuse”, reads a part of the report.
Most children who are not being victimized are having sexual relations because they simply want to try what they saw on social media be it videos or pictures. Social media is a wash of material that encourages children to be experimental and with no parents to advise on how to behave these children end up biting more than they can chew.
Children of today should be taught to live within their means and make use of Government programmes or Non-Governmental Organizations with programmes that take in children with a poor background to reduce exposure to wolves in sheep coats who destroy the future of innocent children.
“Adolescents have been driven into artisanal gold panning, vending, or working as housemaids which has increased their vulnerability to early engagement in risky sexual behavior, drug and substance use and dropping out of school among other social ills. Drugs and substance use was cited as making adolescents high and thereby limiting their capacity to negotiate for safer sex or and access and uptake of SRHR services”, says the report.
There is however a need for a holistic approach in dealing with the matter because it requires law makers, parents and the children themselves to put their heads together and deal with the scourge that will make it seem ok for predators to prey on children. Teenage pregnancy puts the lives of children at risk of death before giving birth, during labor and even postpartum.Â
Some of the teenagers are now rowdy and rebellious. There are a plethora of challenges which vary and cause teenage pregnancy. Schools, government organizations and private sector including all stakeholders should come together and map a way to circumvent the problem which requires looking into laws, creating a conducive environment that encourages growth and educating them about challenges associated with teenage pregnancy.
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