Most Zimbabweans support women’s rights to make independent decisions about marriage, childbearing and education, although the country remains divided on access to contraceptives and abortion, a new Afrobarometer report has revealed.
The report titled: Zimbabweans support women’s autonomy in marital and reproduction choices, but hold mixed views on contraceptives and abortion, highlights changing public attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health rights in Zimbabwe.
The survey, conducted in June 2024 by the Mass Public Opinion Institute under Afrobarometer Round 10, interviewed 1 200 adult Zimbabweans nationwide.
According to the report, most Zimbabweans — about 82% — say women and girls should be able to decide for themselves whether and when to marry.
“A slimmer majority (59%) say women should be able to decide for themselves how many children to have and when to have them,” it said. “Women are much more likely than men to believe in women’s autonomy in reproductive choices (70% versus 49%).”
The report also said support for women’s independence in marriage decisions remained consistently high across demographic groups, never dropping below 79%.
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The findings also revealed strong public support for girls’ education after pregnancy.
“Seven in 10 citizens (71%) are in favour of allowing pupils who become pregnant or have children to continue their schooling,” the report said.
Researchers noted that support was especially strong among women, urban residents and younger Zimbabweans.
On sexuality education, the report found that 63% of Zimbabweans support teaching sex education in schools to help young people to make informed decisions.
“A majority (63%) of Zimbabweans also endorse the teaching of sexuality education in schools,” Afrobarometer reported.
Support for sex education was strongest among urban residents, younger people and respondents with higher levels of education.
Despite broad support for reproductive education, Zimbabweans were sharply divided on whether contraceptives should be made available to anyone sexually active, regardless of age.
“Zimbabweans are evenly divided (47% to 47%) on whether contraceptives should be made available to anyone sexually active regardless of age,” the report found.
However, public opinion was more supportive regarding marital status.
“A large majority (70%) would make contraceptives available to anyone regardless of marital status,” the report stated.
The study also explored attitudes towards abortion, an issue that remains highly controversial in Zimbabwe, finding that clear majorities said: “abortion is ‘sometimes justified’ or ‘always justified’ if the pregnancy threatens the woman’s life or health (64%) or is the result of rape or incest (60%).”
But the report found overwhelming rejection of abortion for economic or personal reasons.
“Overwhelming majorities say terminating a pregnancy is ‘never justified’ in cases where economic hardship would prevent the woman from caring for a child (86%) or where the woman doesn’t want the pregnancy ‘for any reason’ (88%),” it said.
The report comes amid continuing debate in Zimbabwe over reproductive health rights, teenage pregnancy, child marriage and access to contraceptive services.
It said Zimbabwe made significant legal and policy progress in advancing sexual and reproductive health rights through the 2013 Constitution, the Marriages Act and the National Health Strategy.
However, the report said women and girls continued to face barriers, including poverty, stigma, cultural norms and limited access to reproductive health services.
“Cultural norms and traditional practices often override women’s sovereignty in important decisions of marriage and childbearing,” the report noted.
The study also highlighted persistent challenges affecting young women and girls, including child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
“About one-third of girls are married before age 18,” the report said, citing Unicef data.
It cautioned that questions around sexuality, abortion and contraception remain highly sensitive in many communities and may be influenced by social pressure or fear of stigma.
Nevertheless, the findings suggest growing public acceptance of women’s autonomy and educational rights, even as divisions remain over access to contraceptives and abortion laws in Zimbabwe.