HARARE – The government is decriminalising deliberate transmission of HIV, in a controversial move.
Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi told Parliament on Wednesday that the move was in line with international developments, without naming the countries that have made similar moves.
It is currently a jailable offence to deliberately infect your sexual partner with HIV, but Ziyambi said the law was promoting the stigmatisation of people with the disease.
“When this legislation came into effect, the thinking then was that we need to control the spread of HIV by criminalising those who transmit it to partners willingly. But the global thinking now is that that law stigmatises people living with HIV/AIDS and studies have shown that it does not produce the results that were intended,” Ziyambi said in response to a question by Zengeza West MP Job Sikhala (MDC).
Ziyambi said the Marriages Amendment Bill, currently at drafting stage, will repeal the crime of deliberately passing on HIV.
What the Ministry is going to do is to repeal that section of the law and ensure that we keep up to speed with modern trends in the world,” said Minister Ziyambi.
“I’ve acknowledged that we’re going to do that and we’re perhaps looking at introducing that amendment through the Marriages Amendment Bill that is to come. That’s the fastest way to do it,” the minister said.
The minister’s comments sparked debate on social media on Thursday, with many Zimbabweans saying the move was ill-advised.
Ndavaningi Mangwana, the secretary in the ministry of information, took to Twitter to voice his personal objection.
Emphasising that it was a personal view, Mangwana said: “I think knowingly/deliberately transmitting HIV without telling the other person of your status (which you are aware of) should remain a criminal offence. I know there’s a movement in the other direction. Let’s hear pros and cons please.”
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s lawyer Tinomudaishe Chinyoka weighed in: “If clapping someone in the face is a crime, then giving another person a potentially life-ending illness ought to be worse, no?”
Said journalist Innocent Chofamba Sithole: “I agree that it should remain an offence. It’s one thing to be genuinely unaware of one’s status, and quite another to callously have unprotected sex without disclosing one’s HIV status. Why is government strongly persuaded to decriminalise?”
Other respondents noted that the law had led to many false accusations.
Human rights lawyer Obey Shava said: “There’s need for a people-driven position born out of a very wide consultative approach. I have clients who are victims of false and malicious accusations. I also appreciate the need to protect others from deliberate infection.”
