Eight in 10 citizens say the police and courts should do more to protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment.
Key findings
- In Zimbabwe, women are less likely than men to have progressed to post-secondary education (18% vs. 25%). o A huge majority (90%) of Zimbabweans say it is rare or unheard of for families to prioritise boys’ education over girls’, but one-tenth (10%) say this happens frequently. o About one in five citizens (18%) say schoolgirls “often” or “always” face discrimination, harassment, and requests for sexual favours from their teachers.
- Among working-age adults, men are more likely than women to having full-time or part-time jobs (40% vs. 26%). o According to women, the biggest barriers they face to entering and advancing in the workplace are a lack of the requisite education or skills (17%), a lack of childcare (16%), and social norms that deem it unacceptable for women to work outside the home (17%). o About three in 10 respondents (31%) report that women are “often” or “always” prevented from taking on paid employment by their husbands or family members.
- Three-quarters (76%) of Zimbabweans say women should have the same chance as men of being elected to public office. o This represents an increase of 8 percentage points in support for gender fairness in politics compared to a decade ago. o But men are 14 percentage points less likely than women to endorse equal opportunity in politics (69% vs. 83%).
- One-fourth (24%) of Zimbabweans say women “often” or “always” experience sexual harassment in public spaces. o Two-thirds (67%) of citizens say women and girls are likely to be believed if they complain of discrimination or harassment. o But a strong majority (80%) say police and courts should do more to protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment.
Gender equality is intrinsically linked to human development. As the United Nations’ (2023) Sustainable Development Goals state, “Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.” Globally and in Zimbabwe, gender disparities remain prevalent across various spheres of life, from the economy and society as a whole to individual households (World Economic Forum, 2023; United Nations, 2015). Women remain under-represented at the top levels of political decision-making: Only 16 countries have a woman heading government, and women occupy merely 22.9% of cabinet positions (UN Women, 2024a). These data suggest that achieving gender parity in both private and public life is still a long way off.
A World Bank (2024) assessment highlights that Zimbabwe’s government has made considerable progress toward formally recognising and protecting women’s rights in recent decades. Key achievements include the incorporation of women’s rights and a prohibition of gender-based discrimination as part of the 2013 Constitution, the implementation of the National Gender Policy, and the ratification of regional and international legal instruments promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. In 2023, gender was integrated as a cross-cutting theme in the country’s development strategy. The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development is responsible for advancing gender-equality programmes, while the Zimbabwe Gender Commission monitors gender related issues (World Bank, 2024; Government of Zimbabwe, 2024).
Zimbabwe has also made strides in schooling for girls. Secondary school completion rates are almost the same for both genders (71.7% among girls and 72.9% among boys), and adult literacy is higher among women than men (91.2% vs. 88.2%) (World Bank, 2025).
However, this near-parity in education does not translate to equality in other sectors (Rex, Dube, Fernandes, Mukonoweshuro, & Grabinsky, 2024; Nkama, 2025). In the workforce, women are less likely to be in paid employment than men (World Bank, 2025). Even if they do have a job, women are more likely than men to be in vulnerable employment (76.5% vs. 60.8%) and less likely to be promoted: Only one-third of senior and middle management positions are occupied by women (World Bank, 2025).
Despite the government’s efforts, women continue to be underrepresented in politics. Even though a quota system reserves 60 of the 280 seats in the National Assembly for women, they hold only 28.9% of seats (Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, 2024; UN Women, 2024b). Civil society organisations have argued that the quota system is “an essential yet insufficient tool for achieving gender parity” in political leadership (Friedrich Naumann Foundation, 2024). But things are even worse elsewhere: Women comprise only 23% of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s cabinet appointments (Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, 2024).
Afrobarometer offers a citizens’ perspective on the effectiveness of strategies to empower women. Survey findings in Zimbabwe suggest that women continue to face discrimination, harassment, and barriers in various facets of life, both public and private.
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Zimbabwean women are less likely than men to have a degree or a paying job. One in 10 respondents say that families still prioritise boys’ education over girls’. And significant minorities report that husbands and relatives prevent women from taking employment.
About one-fifth of respondents complain that girls often face sexual harassment and discrimination in schools, while one-fourth report that women and girls are frequently harassed in public spaces. Two-thirds of citizens say women and girls are likely to be believed if they report discrimination or harassment to the authorities, but most also think the police and courts need to do more to protect women and girls from receiving such treatment in the first place.
While a majority of citizens support women’s equal chance of being elected to public office, men are significantly less likely than women to endorse gender fairness in politics.
Simangele Moyo-Nyede Simangele is a research officer Mass Public Opinion Institute
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
