Zimbabwe

Cultural Implications for Motherhood

Historically, as a dominantly patrilineal society—the majority of the population is Shona—all children in Zimbabwe traced their connection to a common ancestor through their father. Members of a lineage have historically been required to marry outside of their lineage, uniting lineages into extended families. The marital payment of bridewealth from a man's family to his wife's family continues to allow husbands to establish legal and social rights over children born to a woman, and institutes the child as a member of his/her father's patrilineage. Most marriages (80 percent in rural areas) are unregistered “customary marriages,” which allow polygamy and severely limit the rights of wives and daughters to inherit property. In 2004, 23 percent of women age 15–19 years were married, divorced, or widowed.

An estimated 1.8 million—including mothers and children—out of 11.6 million population in Zimbabwe are living with HIV/AIDS.

Historically, in Zimbabwe, as is the norm in sub-Saharan Africa, both men and women have been socially and ritually praised for their reproductive capabilities, not simply for biological procreation, but for successfully rearing a child to maturity. Motherhood, in particular, has always been highly regarded; during a woman's life course, the emphasis moves from a focus on biological reproduction as a young woman to social reproduction in her later years when she is valued for providing guidance and education to the younger reproductive [Page 1293]women. Abortion is legal only to save the life or health of the mother or in cases of rape, incest, or fetal impairment, but illegal abortions are believed to be widespread and a major contributor to the high rate of maternal mortality.

Recent developments in Zimbabwe have resulted in changes to the institution of motherhood. While cultural cosmology continues to embody women as the natural and socially sanctioned care providers within the supportive framework of the extended family, the care parameters of women have been expanded. Women have been drawn into the labor market, reducing time for traditional childcare, while care obligations have simultaneously increased to cut across lineage ties and kin boundaries. This has occurred as women are regarded as natural care providers for the increasing pool of orphaned children in the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This increased care challenge is often undertaken without any social or economic support from the extended family. At present, it is frequently individuals, often grandmothers or small female-centered groups, who assume responsibility for childcare and not the extended family kin group per se. In essence, care and support of children, most notably those who have been orphaned or made vulnerable, has shifted from a group of women related through their husbands, to a core kin group of uterine kin and individual carers. This is a direct response to traditional family structures being eroded in the face of the present socioeconomic climate characterized by widespread migration, urbanization, political plight, HIV/AIDS, and poverty.

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