Vimbai Sharon Matswetu
Biographic Data
| ID | 1539909 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Vimbai Sharon Matswetu |
| GIVEN NAMES | Vimbai Sharon |
| FAMILY NAME | Matswetu |
| SIGNATURE | MATSWETU V S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of KwaZulu-Natal |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2109-1883 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 7 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
‘I Did Not Choose This’
This article rethinks teenage pregnancy in rural Zimbabwe through a decolonial Afro-feminist lens, foregrounding the lived narratives of 26 teenage mothers in Shamva. Rather than pathologising their experiences or framing early pregnancy as a failure of knowledge or morality, we conceptualise the notion of a reproductive pipeline-a system through which poverty, gendered power, inadequate healthcare, and emphasised femininity converge to constrain…
Girls negotiating schooling after pregnancy in rural Zimbabwe
Teenage pregnancy continues to disrupt girls’ schooling in rural Zimbabwe despite the Education Amendment Act (2020), which guarantees readmission after childbirth. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 22 out-of-school young mothers aged 16–19, this study uses an Afro-feminist intersectional framework to examine how pregnancy reshapes educational trajectories within contexts of poverty, moral regulation, and patriarchal authority. The findings sho…
Parents, patriarchy and schooling amongst the Shona in rural Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, gender inequalities, economic precarity, and entrenched patriarchal norms continue to shape girls’ educational trajectories. Against this backdrop, this paper examines how parents in rural Shona communities mediate gender norms that structure what becomes possible for girls’ schooling and gender-just education. Drawing on interviews and focus group discussions with parents, and informed by Afro-feminist and masculinity perspectives, …
Gender and school journeys
In rural Zimbabwe, long and unsafe school journeys expose girls to significant risks, including sexual violence, which often curtail their mobility and autonomy. Informed by the concept of sexual geographies, this study examines girls’ school journeys and how they navigate sexual risk in the context of economic volatility, inadequate infrastructure, cultural norms and male power. While previous studies have explored the gendered risks associated …
Zimbabwean teenagers learning sexuality and negotiating abstinence
To address teenage learners’ risk of HIV, STIs and pregnancy, good quality school-based sexuality education is of great importance. In this paper we address Zimbabwean young people’s construction of sex and sexuality education. We draw from semi-structured individual interviews conducted with forty-seven teenage boys and girls aged between 15 and 19 years in two rural schools in Zimbabwe. The study’s findings suggest that teenagers make sense of …
Girls under surveillance
Background: Parents play an important role in shaping young people’s sexual lives and behaviours with implications for their current and future sexual and reproductive health. This study examined the perspectives of rural Zimbabwean parents on young people’s sexual health. Design: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 19 (6 men and 13 women) participants. Setting: Interviews were conducted in a rural district in Zimbabwe. Meth…
Humhandara and hujaya
Given the significance of gender and cultural norms in producing meanings about sexuality, we address the ways in which rural adolescents in Zimbabwe, aged between 16 and 19 years old, give meaning to virginity and the social processes through which it is produced. We are interested in the ways in which cultural norms are produced and ways in which sexual double standards operate in producing sexuality and girls' subordination. We argue that whil…
Humhandara and hujaya
Given the significance of gender and cultural norms in producing meanings about sexuality, we address the ways in which rural adolescents in Zimbabwe, aged between 16 and 19 years old, give meaning to virginity and the social processes through which it is produced. We are interested in the ways in which cultural norms are produced and ways in which sexual double standards operate in producing sexuality and girls' subordination. We argue that whil…
Humhandara and hujaya
Given the significance of gender and cultural norms in producing meanings about sexuality, we address the ways in which rural adolescents in Zimbabwe, aged between 16 and 19 years old, give meaning to virginity and the social processes through which it is produced. We are interested in the ways in which cultural norms are produced and ways in which sexual double standards operate in producing sexuality and girls' subordination. We argue that whil…
Girls under surveillance
Background: Parents play an important role in shaping young people’s sexual lives and behaviours with implications for their current and future sexual and reproductive health. This study examined the perspectives of rural Zimbabwean parents on young people’s sexual health. Design: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 19 (6 men and 13 women) participants. Setting: Interviews were conducted in a rural district in Zimbabwe. Meth…
Zimbabwean teenagers learning sexuality and negotiating abstinence
To address teenage learners’ risk of HIV, STIs and pregnancy, good quality school-based sexuality education is of great importance. In this paper we address Zimbabwean young people’s construction of sex and sexuality education. We draw from semi-structured individual interviews conducted with forty-seven teenage boys and girls aged between 15 and 19 years in two rural schools in Zimbabwe. The study’s findings suggest that teenagers make sense of …
Gender and school journeys
In rural Zimbabwe, long and unsafe school journeys expose girls to significant risks, including sexual violence, which often curtail their mobility and autonomy. Informed by the concept of sexual geographies, this study examines girls’ school journeys and how they navigate sexual risk in the context of economic volatility, inadequate infrastructure, cultural norms and male power. While previous studies have explored the gendered risks associated …
‘I Did Not Choose This’
This article rethinks teenage pregnancy in rural Zimbabwe through a decolonial Afro-feminist lens, foregrounding the lived narratives of 26 teenage mothers in Shamva. Rather than pathologising their experiences or framing early pregnancy as a failure of knowledge or morality, we conceptualise the notion of a reproductive pipeline-a system through which poverty, gendered power, inadequate healthcare, and emphasised femininity converge to constrain…
Girls negotiating schooling after pregnancy in rural Zimbabwe
Teenage pregnancy continues to disrupt girls’ schooling in rural Zimbabwe despite the Education Amendment Act (2020), which guarantees readmission after childbirth. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 22 out-of-school young mothers aged 16–19, this study uses an Afro-feminist intersectional framework to examine how pregnancy reshapes educational trajectories within contexts of poverty, moral regulation, and patriarchal authority. The findings sho…
Parents, patriarchy and schooling amongst the Shona in rural Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, gender inequalities, economic precarity, and entrenched patriarchal norms continue to shape girls’ educational trajectories. Against this backdrop, this paper examines how parents in rural Shona communities mediate gender norms that structure what becomes possible for girls’ schooling and gender-just education. Drawing on interviews and focus group discussions with parents, and informed by Afro-feminist and masculinity perspectives, …
Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (5 works) · African studies and sociopolitical issues (5 works) · Gender Studies (3 works) · Human sexuality (3 works) · Population (3 works) · Psychology (3 works) · Sociology (3 works) · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues (2 works) · Demography (2 works) · Developmental psychology (2 works)