Tag: SEMESTER MARRIAGES

Financial hardships driving varsity students into semester marriages

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Financial hardships are driving tertiary students into exploitative relationships known as “semester marriages.” These arrangements, described by students, involve male students acting as husbands and providing for female students, who, in turn, perform the duties of a wife. The “marriage” typically lasts for one academic semester. This issue came to light during a Safer Campus Campaign Dialogue on Gender-Based Violence, organized by the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Africa Trust (SAT) in partnership with Full of Life Trust (FOLIT) at the Catholic University of Zimbabwe on Wednesday.…

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SAYWHAT Raises Alarm Over Spike In GBV Cases In Semester Marriages

Michael Gwarisa

THE Students and Youth Working on Reproductive Health Action Team (SAYWHAT) has raised concern over the prevalence of semester marriages which the organisation says are behind the rise in Gender Based Violence (GBV) and other Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) challenges amongst students. By Michael Gwarisa Speaking during the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) organised World Population Day commemorations, SAYWHAT project coordinator Esinathy Sibanda said COVID-19 induced lockdown had also resulted in surge in GBV cases for semester marriages settings. Semester marriages are one of the things that students in tertiary…

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