A report published by Aljazeera has shown that young women in Zimbabwe are moving to urban areas and into prostitution, as global warming continues to devastate rural agriculture and increase hunger.
It is estimated that climate change will cause average temperatures in Zimbabwe to rise about 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. Annual rainfall could decline by 5-18 percent, especially in the country’s south.
The report which was titled “Climate change forcing Zimbabwean girls into sex work” showed that most areas in Zimbabwe have been hit hard by climate change with heatwaves, low precipitation, or excessive rain resulting in flash floods.
In the report, the village head in Maramba in Mashonaland East province, 130km (80 miles) south of Harare, David Marekera was quoted as saying that climate change is not only bringing hunger in the community but destroying the future of children.
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Marekera explained that teen boys are quitting schools and going to artisanal mining in the Mazowe dam while teen girls are going into child marriages and child prostitution because of hunger.
“It is very unfortunate,” Marekera said. “To us, the damage is high and irreversible at least for now”.
According to Memory Kanyati, provincial director of the Zimbabwe Youth Council Harare, the growing number of children in prostitution is a concerning development.
“We are seeing many of them involved in this dangerous trade, a situation which is not healthy for them,” Kanyati said. “As a council, we represent government aspirations of seeing children developing life skills and capacity to be responsible citizens”.
Story was adapted from Aljazeera.
