STEALING a cow has a minimum penalty of nine years in prison per beast while the minimum for rape is five years.
Police campaigns to demystify the belief that sexual intercourse with a child will cure HIV and AIDS seem to be falling on deaf ears with a total of 7 411 female juveniles raped in the last two years.
Recent rape statistics released by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) reveal that from 2012 to the first quarter of 2014, a total number of 3 571 adult women were sexually assaulted.
There has been an outcry from some male platforms that these statistics only focus on females and ignore the rise of sodomy cases on juvenile males.
TheGovernment in response recently launched the National Action Plan against Rape and Sexual Abuse.
Speaking at the launch, Vice-President Joice Mujuru said, “Communities need to develop a culture of zero tolerance to rape and sexual violence.
“Traditional and community leaders should speak openly against sexual violence and create community based protection systems.”
Last month, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) donated a colposcope machine which is a magnifying and photographic instrument used to examine the female organ.
The copolscope will be set up in the Adult Rape Clinic at Parirenyatwa Central Hospital to complement existing structures in place and whereby patients will get all the service in one place.
“Victims should be aware that rape is an emergency and should be treated as such,” a councillor at one of the private rape centres told The Patriot.
Earlier this year, a Mutare man Moses Musara appeared in court for allegedly raping 13 women.
Musara was HIV positive and in the process all 13 women were at risk of having contracted the virus.
A delay in getting help increases the risk of the victim contracting the virus as the first 72 hours are crucial.
Those that are raped are supposed to report within 72 hours so that Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) can be administered within 14 days.
These 72 hours are also important in order to prevent pregnancies.
“The police’s response in such matters is also important,” said the councillor.
“We had one case where a victim was raped in Eyecourt which falls under the Waterfalls jurisdiction and the patient went to Chitungwiza police where she was told to report where the incident had occurred.
“The officers in charge did not realise that every hour this traumatised was wasting was important.
“It was after a week that she finally came to our centre and by then it was too late.”
The councillor also listed some of the reasons why victims do not seek help earlier.
In most cases the victim is raped by a person they know or trust as with the trial of End Time Messages a church leader, Robert Martin Gumbura.
Most of the victims were either seeking shelter with him or part of his congregation.
Sometimes the perpetrator it is a trusted uncle, friend or even a friendly stranger as with the recent case of Epworth teenager who was lured into the shadowy bush by Mukivisi River.
PEP is administered at the country’s major hospitals like Chitungwiza, Harare Central Hospital and Parirenyatwa among others and those who do not have adequate information can approach the nearest Police station for help.