u/Prophetgay

Today just became a basement dweller and one of the things that keeps me on Reddit is the Zimbabwean sub and the discourse here. Everyday for me there is always something worthwhile that I find in the Zim sub. For those who are like me and are on Reddit daily what are the things that have made you a regular of the Zimbabwean Sub Reddit?

This video shared by Zim Celebs has raised an uncomfortable discussion Zimbabwean society rarely wants to talk about!

This young girl is a minor and its the older women vaakadanana naye who need to be held to account. And then the girl needs counseling from professional bodies like GALZ not this masquerade yakaitika mukereke iyi!

We have built a cultural script where women are presumed incapable of sexual predation. “A woman wouldn’t do that.” And when the victim is a young lesbian or bisexual girl, the situation becomes even messier: suddenly the conversation becomes about demons, homosexuality, morality and “deliverance” instead of why adult women are having sexual relationships with a minor.

That is the part that should alarm us.

An adult woman pursuing a Bota with a child is a child protection issue. The gender of the alleged perpetrator should not determine whether we believe the victim.

And this is where Zimbabwe needs a much bigger conversation about woman to woman rape and non consensual Bota because minors cannot consent!

Young Lesbian, bisexual and queer survivors face an additional layer of silence because society already struggles to acknowledge that women can sexually abuse other women. Some survivors may fear ridicule, disbelief, homophobia or being blamed for their own sexuality as is the case in this video

So when a young girl is brought ku Kereke, perhaps the first question shouldn't be:

“What demon is troubling this child?”

It should be:

“Who are the adults involved, what happened, and how do we protect this child?”

Kereke ngainamate muzvokwadi kwete zve conversion deliverance sessions which dont work because i can guarantee that musikana uyo still has same sex attraction but she will just go back into the closet chete. Families need to support Children not child predators who claim that it is the child initiating Bota.

And conversion therapy should never become a substitute for safeguarding, accountability and professional help.

Zimbabwe needs services that can recognise all survivors of woman to woman sexual abuse as these young girls sexuality makes them vulnerable to being silenced and victim blamed and victim shamed!

A child does not need an exorcism for being abused. She needs adults willing to believe her, protect her and act.

The other challenge is content creators who are jumping on the virality of the topic for likes and views. For example this content creator starts his video with a falsehood where he paints being gay as being a choice or being a lifestyle. THAT IS WRONG! Being gay is not a lifestyle neither is it a choice!The rest of the video is correct though on the intersex issue. However a little leaven leaven’s the lump.

Government convened high level meeting on intersex rights and legal recognition in Harare!

The Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs today convened a high-level breakfast meeting on intersex rights and legal recognition in Harare, aimed at strengthening Zimbabwe’s approach to protecting intersex persons and addressing gaps in existing laws.

The meeting, held at Holiday Inn Hotel, was attended by Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi, Minister of Justice; Hon. Edgar Moyo, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare; and Hon. Dr Douglas T Mombeshora, Minister of Health and Child Care. In addressing the issue, officials emphasised the need for public understanding of what intersex means and why it is often misinterpreted in society. Intersex refers to a range of natural biological traits such as chromosomes, gonads, hormones, or reproductive anatomy that may not fit typical definitions of male or female. It is not a choice or a disease and it is not caused by wrongdoing; rather, it is a form of human biological variation.

Speaking during a side interview, Hon. Ziyambi Ziyambi said the Government’s work began after a court challenge involving intersex rights. “Basically what we have done is we have received a court challenge regarding this issue (intersex) and we referred it to the Attorney General,” he said. “After that we decided as a Ministry that we need to undertake research.” Hon Ziyambi explained that while Zimbabwe’s Constitution recognises two sexes, the legal and administrative systems must respond to lived realities where people do not fit neatly into the binary classification used in many government processes. The Ministry said the research was conducted through the Law Development Commission, supported by the UNDP, and the breakfast meeting was convened to gather expert input. “The research and this meeting are part of work in progress,” Hon. Ziyambi said. “We have presentations and testimonies and lived experiences, and we believe that out of the meeting, we will be able to come up with concrete measures.” Hon. Edgar Moyo described the meeting as both a wake-up call and a pathway toward legal reforms. He said there is a gap in the law. “There is real gap in our statutes to address those issues. Because we are basically classified as male and female and then there are people falling in between,” he said.

Minister Moyo highlighted that stigma and cultural barriers have contributed to intersex issues being kept “under the carpet”. He also pointed to how intersex persons may face repeated humiliation and exclusion when required documents and identity processes do not match their biological traits.

He said awareness and services must be strengthened, including within families and child protection systems. “Testimonies were heartbreaking, noting that parents may not always know or may not understand the issue early enough, particularly when traits emerge later,” he said. He added that his Ministry will work on providing inclusive support and recognition, stressing that Government must “live beyond culture” and “be adaptive” in promoting inclusivity.

Participants reviewed barriers faced by intersex persons in Zimbabwe’s documentation and public services systems, including: legal documentation systems that recognise only binary sex markers; difficulty obtaining birth certificates and national IDs, due to mismatches between biological variation and documentation categories and exclusion from education enrolment, health services, banking employment and voting among many other challenges highlighted.

Officials also noted that many communities misunderstand intersex through cultural beliefs and stigma, often treating the condition as taboo or “irregular”. They said families may keep such matters private, especially when traits become more noticeable later in life or when a person is pressured to conform to strict gender expectations.

The Ministry said it will validate the findings, draft legal and policy recommendations for Cabinet consideration, maintain ongoing engagement with intersex persons and civil society organisations (CSOs), and provide feedback to participants on progress made. The process will rely on both expert guidance and the lived experiences of intersex persons, emphasising that inclusion must be practical, humane and grounded in real life.

When you build a brand around yourself, your appearance, your personality, your skits, and your lifestyle, people naturally become invested. Fairly or unfairly, they will speculate. That's the reality of celebrity culture worldwide!

Ko slang yekuti "Sim2 team" yakambobvepi & the moment someone presents themselves outside what society expects, the whispers start. A cross dresser? Drag performances? A flamboyant public image? The assumptions write themselves.

Personally, I think there's another layer to this conversation. We live in a country where openly identifying yourself as your authentic self carries enormous social, legal, and professional consequences. It's not exactly an environment that encourages people to be open or authentic as regards their identity!

Unfortunately for him people are not going to stop asking. When your life is your brand, public curiosity comes with the territory. Silence doesn't end speculation it usually fuels it.

Whether that's fair or not is a completely different conversation. What are your thoughts on social media influencers?

I enjoy reddit because I find it to be an educational space. I also spend quite some time in the Zim sub despite having quite a few unpleasant experiences. One disappointment was when I put up a research post which was taken down as low effort ( it was not ) but lo and behold a few days later a non Zimbabwean put out a research post and guess what it was left up. Why? Because we hate our own. It’s not the first time I have seen this and I saw the other time people where asking why the Polygamist got a Netflix deal and became popular in SA and not here in Zim. Yet people forget that Sue Nyathi had to self publish in 2012 after being rejected by publishers here