By Michael Gwarisa
Crimes of a sexual nature, coupled with the increased occurrence of intimate partner violence and gender-based violence (GBV) continue to dominate Zimbabwe’s Crime data, official statistics have shown.
Data gathered by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) shows that rape is still a major crime in Zimbabwe, with men constituting the largest number of perpetrators.
According to the Zimstat data relating to Crimes and Prison admissions for the Third Quarter of 2023, the national crime rate was 1,201.8 crimes per 100,000 people in the third quarter, an uptick from 1,172.9 per 100,000 observed in the second quarter. 182,427 offenses were also recorded over July to September 2023 period. This represents a 2.5 percent increase from 178,031 offenses recorded in the second quarter.
Giving an update on the Crime and Prison Admissions, Tinashe Mwadiwa, the Zimstat Social Statistics Manager said domestic violence among theft, burglary, robbery and assault contributed to the highest number of criminal offenses recorded in the third quarter.
There were 2,736 cases of sexual violence recorded in the third quarter of 2023, representing a crime rate of 18 per 100,000 population,” said Mwadiwa.
The total number of rape crimes that were recorded in the third quarter was 712, with males contributing 704 cases to the total number of offenses and women constituting eight offences. Domestic Violence Cases recorded in the third quarter amounted to 830 with males accounting for 94 cases and women 36.
“This distribution seems to mirror that of crimes that led to the imprisonment of new male prisoners. The crimes that were mostly committed by new female prisoners were theft, assault, migration related offences and unlawful acts involving controlled drugs or precursors.”
Theft, assaults, burglary, robbery (without firearms) and domestic violence were also the most frequent crimes for prisoners aged between 20 to 44. For males aged 60 and above, the most common crimes were rape and theft.
