Muchaneta Chimuka
Clandestine abortions are leaving many women and girls in Zimbabwe with lasting physical and emotional scars, with fear of arrest, stigma and social condemnation often preventing them from speaking out and seeking support.
For many, the experience remains a closely guarded secret, leaving them to deal with the consequences in silence for fear of discrimination or becoming the subject of public ridicule.
Restrictive abortion laws and barriers to accessing safe reproductive healthcare have been cited as factors that can push women and girls towards unsafe procedures, increasing the risk of preventable maternal illness and death.
Tineyi, 24, (not her real name), from Chitungwiza, said she became pregnant after an alleged sexual encounter with her local church pastor during all-night prayer services.
Fearing stigma and discrimination from fellow church members and the wider community, she opted for a clandestine abortion.
Clandestine abortions are the voluntary termination of a pregnancy performed outside of official, legal, or medically authorized channels.
“To be frank enough, I was not ready to carry the shame; above all, the pastor in question is married, and I was the best girl at his wedding,” she said.
“I was not raped at all, but the affair happened accidentally. I recognised that I was three weeks pregnant, and I visited a local self–styled traditional healer who gave me some concoctions to take. They were very bitter, but I took courage. I paid her US$400.”
Tineyi said she did not opt to go to a health facility for the abortion procedure because she knew it was illegal.
“The traditional healer later instructed me to go home and that I should use a bucket whenever the bleeding starts,” she said.
“All the hell started in the midst of the night, and I started feeling stomach cramps followed by heavy bleeding.
“I was alone in my tiny rented room. I fainted occasionally due to loss of blood, but I could not alert my landlord and other distant relatives because I knew that their first step was to take me to the hospital. I feared that the nurses would do some tests and notice that I had induced the pregnancy.”
She said, after three hours of agonising pain, a huge lump of blood came out, and she hurriedly went and concealed it in a Blair toilet.
“I then bathed myself. I went to the pharmacy to buy some antibiotics, but the pharmacist refused, saying they are not part of the over-the-counter drugs; hence they needed a doctor’s prescription,” she said.
“I went back to the traditional healer who gave me some herbs, but the bleeding did not stop. I lost weight, and my complexion turned to a tarred black colour.
“I was sick, thick and thin and could not even go to church or outside the house. I could see some people in my neighbourhood, pointing forest-like fingers at me, gossiping about my ill health.”
After six months, Tineyi noticed that she had a bad odour and some maggots were coming out from her reproductive tract, and she called an ambulance.
“Upon arrival at the hospital, several nurses surrounded my bed, and they were shell–shocked to see such huge maggots in my reproductive tract,” she said.
“An ultrasound was done, and it revealed that I had aborted and some foetal tissues had been retained inside; hence, I was now rotting.
“I was a moving corpse because people could be seen spitting their saliva, registering discontentment over my health status and the awful smell.
“They hurriedly treated me and removed my womb, citing that it was no longer functional; hence, I won’t be able to bear children during my lifetime.”
Tineyi did not have children, and this was her first pregnancy. She was happy that the doctors managed to treat her confidentially, but the psychological trauma of never being able to bear children again will always haunt her throughout her life.
She did not receive any counselling before and after the abortion; hence, the lack of disclosure is most likely to fuel mental health challenges.
Post-abortion care (PAC) is legal in Zimbabwe regardless of how a pregnancy ends, and patients do not need a police report or judicial approval to receive emergency medical attention.
Community Working Group on Health executive director, Mr Itai Rusike, said the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s guidelines on Comprehensive National Guidelines include not just emergency complication treatment, but also post-abortion family planning counselling and contraceptive services.
“There is a need to expand quality care and address high maternal mortality tied to unsafe procedures,” he said.
“While post-abortion care is legal and accessible for emergency medical reasons, intentionally inducing an abortion remains strictly regulated under the Termination of Pregnancy Act (1977).”
He said, under this law, an induced termination is only legally permitted under specific conditions—such as a serious threat to the woman’s life or physical health, severe foetal abnormality, or pregnancy resulting from rape or incest (subject to formal certification requirements.
Society for Pre and Post Natal Services (SPANS)’s chief talent team leader and secretary of the teams lead, Mr Linos Muvhu said mental health is an essential part of maternal health; hence, it should be valued at all costs.
“Emotional wellbeing shapes how women experience pregnancy and the move into motherhood, even during and after abortion,” he said.
“Last of disclosure after abortion affects relationships and one’s mental wellbeing. Early recognition and appropriate care improve outcomes; untreated difficulties can persist to severe mental health challenges.”
The Principal Educational Psychologist in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Mr Cephas Shanyurai, said learners who fall pregnant during the course of their career have the right to continue with their education.
“Those children are encompassed in the Basic Education Assistance Module; hence, they should not quit education,” he said.
“We work with various partners like the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), and we are paying for their fees in 72 districts, and we prepare schools such that they accept such students and give them mental and psychological support.
“We also provide qualified psychologists, parental support, school feeding programmes, and menstrual health management. With this support, we reduce backyard abortions among the youth.”
According to the Guttmacher Institute, Zimbabwe has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, estimated at 651 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births.
The Guttmacher Institute reflects on how restrictive abortion provisions and intense cultural stigma in Zimbabwe force women into backyard abortions, which leads to hidden psychological trauma, anxiety, and depression experienced by survivors navigating these situations in secrecy.
On October 14, 2026, the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe set aside a lower court ruling that had sought to include mental health as an explicit legal ground for abortion under Section 4(a) of the Termination of Pregnancy Act [Chapter]; however, the debate still rages on and appeals are imminent.
The Constitutional Court overturned the progressive High Court decision on procedural grounds, ruling that the lower court failed to follow the proper full legal test required to strike down legislation.
This decision effectively left the restrictive 1977 laws intact, shutting mental health reasons back out of legal parameters for the time being.
These legal setbacks leave vulnerable youth and those who are mentally challenged trapped in cycles of trauma, legal blockades, and cognitive distress; hence, they are forced to carry the pregnancy to full term, yet they won’t be able to look after those children.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care and the United Nations estimated that unsafe abortions in Zimbabwe account for approximately 16 – 25 percent of all maternal deaths in the country.
It is also estimated that 60 000 to 80 000 backstreet abortions occur in Zimbabwe annually. Moreover, around 40 percent of women who undergo clandestine abortions experience severe medical complications—such as heavy bleeding (haemorrhage), sepsis, or uterine perforation—though many delay seeking treatment due to legal and social stigma.
