Tag: VCAT

Empowering the Press: How VCAT Trainings Are Equipping Journalists to Demystify Zimbabwe’s Abortion Laws

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa The Value Clarification and Attitudes Transformation (VCAT) training is a powerful tool that can help strengthen advocacy for abortion rights in Zimbabwe. By engaging journalists in critical discussions about the legal, cultural, and religious frameworks surrounding abortion, VCAT equips media professionals with the knowledge and sensitivity needed to report on the subject effectively. Zimbabwe’s Termination of Pregnancy Act (ToP) of 1977 is restrictive, allowing abortion only in specific circumstances, and many journalists have historically lacked the understanding to cover the topic accurately and sensitively. This knowledge gap…

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Media Trained On Improved Attitudes Towards Safe Abortion

Patricia Mashiri

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists together with the Population Services Zimbabwe (PSZ) held a three day media training workshop to  improve  the knowledge and attitude towards safe abortion in Zimbabwe. By Patricia Mashiri The training termed the Value Clarification Attitudes Transformation (VCAT) was also centred on discussions around religious and cultural beliefs around abortion, the legal framework that guide abortion in Zimbabwe and how to report sensitively on the issue so as to change the attitudes of the society . Mrs Edna Masiyiwa, the Women’s Action Group (WAG)…

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Values clarification workshops to improve abortion knowledge and attitudes: Post assessment

Mufaro Musiyazviriyo

By Mufaro Musiyazviriyo The Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1977 states that it is illegal to terminate a pregnancy unless it has been sanctioned by Government authorities which includes, the court and state hospitals agreeing that the pregnancy in question was as a result of unlawful intercourse (rape/incest). The Act also allows for termination of pregnancy if the pregnancy endangers the life of the women or the child to be born will suffer from a physical or mental defect of such a nature that they will permanently be seriously handicapped.…

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