Too Young to Vote, Old Enough to Be Exploited: Children in Southern Africa Demand Justice from the World

By Shelton Muchena, England
This is no longer a regional issue. It is a global crisis, one that strikes at the heart of morality, justice, and the very principles of democracy. From the capitals of Southern Africa to the halls of power in Europe, the world can no longer look away. In Zimbabwe and Botswana, children are standing up and demanding what every human being deserves: coherence, protection, and a voice. They are asking a question so simple it exposes a deadly contradiction: at 16, they are legally allowed to have sex, yet too young to vote.

This is not a legal quirk it is a crisis of rights. When children are deemed mature enough to consent to sex but denied the ability to participate in shaping the laws that govern their lives, exploitation thrives. Predators hide behind loopholes, while children’s bodies are treated as political nonentities. Girls are coerced. Boys are silenced. Childhood is traded away not by choice, but by a system that refuses to align responsibility with protection.

Children are refusing to stay silent. Their voices are shaking parliaments in Harare and Gaborone, compelling lawmakers to confront an uncomfortable truth: laws that protect adults but endanger children are not neutral they are violent. International organizations, including UNICEF, have amplified their calls, sharing testimony and videos on their Facebook page that document the real consequences of this legal misalignment. These stories are urgent, undeniable, and morally searing.

The world cannot remain a distant observer. England and other European countries have a role to play. Many of these laws were shaped or influenced through colonial-era frameworks, and today, diplomatic pressure, development funding, and human-rights commitments mean Europe cannot ignore its complicity. Silence from the international community allows exploitation to persist, undermining the moral authority of nations that claim to champion children’s rights.

This is why the issue must be debated globally, in parliaments from Westminster to Brussels, and in international forums where human rights are meant to be defended. This is not just about lowering voting ages or raising consent ages it is about ending the legal contradictions that leave children unprotected, unheard, and vulnerable.

These young people are asking a question that should resonate with the world: if they are old enough to be harmed, why are they not old enough to be heard? Their courage exposes a deeper truth: justice delayed is justice denied, and when children are silenced, societies fail.

History will not ask whether this crisis was complicated. It will ask whether the world listened. Children in Zimbabwe and Botswana have already found their voices. The world must respond, and it must respond now. This is a crisis that transcends borders, a reckoning that challenges the conscience of every nation, and a call to action that cannot be ignored.