Zimbabweans Support Women's Autonomy in Marital and Reproduction Choices, but Hold Mixed Views On Contraceptives and Abortion

13 May 2026
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Simangele Moyo-Nyede

Majorities endorse sex education and allowing pregnant pupils to stay in school.

Key findings

  • Most Zimbabweans (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.
  • Women are much more likely than men to believe in women's autonomy in reproductive choices (70% vs. 49%).
  • Seven in 10 citizens (71%) are in favour of allowing pupils who become pregnant or have children to continue their schooling,
  • More than six in 10 (63%) endorse the teaching of sexuality education in school. ▪ Zimbabweans are evenly divided on whether contraceptives should be made available for anyone who is sexually active regardless of age.
  • A majority (70%) endorse making contraceptives available to anyone regardless of marital status.
  • Clear majorities say abortion is "sometimes justified" or "always justified" if the pregnancy threatens the woman's life or health (64%) or is the result rape or incest (60%).
  • But 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%).

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Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are an essential facet of public health, human rights, and sustainable development. For women, they entail physical, mental, and social well-being with autonomy in matters of sexuality and childbearing, including access to contraceptives (Starrs et al., 2018).

Zimbabwe has made great strides on SRHR in recent years, with legal and policy frameworks, anchored in the 2013 Constitution, that prioritise SRHR in the 2026-2030 National Health Strategy, increase funding for SRHR services, and prohibit child marriage through the Marriages Act (United Nations Population Fund, 2025, 2026; World Health Organization, 2020).

Despite progress, Zimbabwean women face many barriers to SRHR, including social norms, economic challenges, inadequate social protection, and health-system limitations (Ministry of Health, 2020; United Nations Population Fund, 2026). Cultural norms and traditional practices often override women's sovereignty in important decisions of marriage and childbearing. Child marriages are still prevalent: About one-third of girls are married before age 18 (UNICEF, 2023, 2025).

In Zimbabwe, minors are denied modern contraceptives and general family-planning services unless they have consent from their parents or guardians (Matsengarwodzi, 2024). On the ground, about 60% of women aged 15-49 have access to modern contraceptives, though this varies widely based on women's age, marital status, and location (National Statistics Agency, 2015). Stigma and discrimination limit access to contraceptives for young and unmarried women (United Nations Population Fund, 2021).

Zimbabwe's teenage pregnancy rate of 25% is widely acknowledged as a barrier to women's development, and reducing it is a key goal of the National Strategy to End Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy (UNICEF, 2022). Zimbabwe's school curriculum includes sexuality education, which can encourage youth to prioritise their education and health by delaying sexual debut (Mashingaidze & Moyo-Nyede, 2023). But critics say sex education is not implemented consistently, and this, coupled with cultural sensitivities and limited resources, leaves youth poorly informed about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, which have been diagnosed in children as young as 10-14 (Radio Bukalanga, 2025; Dube-Matutu, 2025).

Zimbabwe's Education Amendment Act of 2020 allows pregnant girls to continue with their schooling (Khumalo & Hadebe, 2024; Magweta, 2023), but critics say it will require consistent application, support services, and public advocacy and stigma reduction to make continued education a reality for many schoolgirls (Mashingaidze & Moyo-Nyede, 2023; Khumalo & Hadebe, 2024).

Abortion is unlawful in Zimbabwe except in cases where the pregnancy endangers the woman's life, is likely to produce a child with a serious handicap, or is the result of rape or incest (Government of Zimbabwe, 2018; Matsengarwodzi, 2024). In 2020, an estimated 65,300 abortions occurred in the country - many of them unsafe, placing the women at elevated risk of complications and maternal death (World Health Organization, 2019, 2020; Matsengarwodzi, 2024).

The Harare High Court issued important rulings in 2024 and 2025 permitting the provision of abortion for minors (Munyoro, 2024) and finding that the Termination of Pregnancy Act failed to consider the abortion rights of women with mental health challenges (Chimhete, 2025).

Activists have called for a review of the Medical Services Amendment Bill (2024), which seeks to expand grounds for legal abortion (Safe Abortion Action Fund, 2025), though they face opposition from religious organisations and others who see abortion as morally wrong (Chiweshe, 2020).

Afrobarometer's Round 10 survey (2024) explores the opinions and experiences of Zimbabweans related to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Findings show that a majority of citizens believe women should have autonomy in making decisions about marriage and having children. Most also say that young women who become pregnant or have children should be allowed to continue their education and that schools should teach sexuality education. However, the adult populace is divided regarding the idea of making contraceptives available to anyone who is sexually active regardless of age, while a majority support unrestricted access to contraceptives regardless of marital status.

Majorities consider abortion justifiable if the woman's life or health is at risk or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, but most reject economic hardship and a woman's preference as acceptable grounds for terminating a pregnancy.

Simangele Moyo-Nyede Simangele is a research officer Mass Public Opinion Institute

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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