there are age-related barriers to access to sexual and reproductive health services (SRHS). These barriers are outlined below:4 • Currently, there is no legislation that specifies the age limit below which parental consent is required to receive sexual and reproductive health services in general. Practice has however evolved a policy of its own: the common practice is that, as with many other health services, parental consent is required to provide sexual and reproductive health services, to a child under 16 years. Because a child under the age of 16 years cannot consent to sexual intercourse at law, it is then presumed that a child under the age of 16 years does not need contraceptives or other SRHS, which is a belief that prejudices children, as will be made clear below. This is because children between 12 and 16 years can among themselves have consensual sexual intercourse without offending any penal provision. That legal position aside - and most children are in fact not aware of that legal position - it is fact that children are engaging in sexual activity among themselves at early ages. Such children require access to sexual and reproductive health services as an intervention. • For general medication, pharmacies in Zimbabwe require the parents and/or guardians to be present, or a written order signed by the parents or guardians before any medication can be dispensed to a child under 16 years. This includes contraceptives which are a form of medication, except for condoms. Any person above the age of 16 years can, without parental consent and without any challenges, access medical treatment, including contraceptives. • As regards access to contraceptives that are in the form of barrier methods, such as condoms, there are no age restrictions as these are readily available over the counter, without parental consent being required. • In terms of the Termination of Pregnancy Act [Chapter 15:10], abortion is only permitted in certain circumstances that include when a child has been sexually abused and a certificate has been issued by a magistrate of a court in the jurisdiction in which the pregnancy is to be terminated. • The age of consent for cervical screening, which is related to sexual and reproductive health, is 16 years and requires no parental consent when the child is above that age. However, an individual younger than 16 years does not require parental consent if she is considered to be a “mature minor”. That determination is, of course, subjective to the health services provider. • Similarly, health service providers will release HIV test results directly to a patient from the age of 16 years. If the patient is under the age of 16 years, an assessment of maturity will be carried out by the health service provider to determine whether the results can be released directly to him or her. Again, that assessment is subjective. 4 See SRHR Africa Trust (SAT) “Zimbabwe Age of consent Legal Review” Chapter Three: Access to contraception services and commodities at page 5. 9