By Victor Fanuel
HARARE — Government has begun reviewing Zimbabwe’s legal framework to recognise intersex people after a constitutional challenge exposed gaps that have left some citizens struggling to obtain identity documents and access basic services.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the reform process was triggered by a court case that forced authorities to examine how existing laws treat people whose biological characteristics do not fit the male or female categories recognised in law.
“What we have done is we received a court challenge regarding this issue and we referred it to the Attorney-General. After that we decided, as a ministry, that we needed to undertake research.
“You will recall that in our Constitution we only have two sexes, male and female.
“When it came to our attention that there were challenges regarding the current legal structure, we tasked our Law Development Commission, with support from UNDP, to conduct research,” Ziyambi said.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Edgar Moyo said discussions with intersex people had exposed challenges that had remained largely hidden, including gaps in legislation and limited public understanding of intersex issues.
“It’s a very important meeting. It’s an eye-opener.
“A lot of things have always been kept under the carpet and people are not privy to intersex issues,” Moyo said.
“What has come out is that there is a real gap in our statutes because our legal framework currently classifies people as either male or female, yet there are individuals who fall outside those categories,” he added.
Moyo said Government would need to review legislation and strengthen awareness campaigns to promote greater understanding of intersex issues.
“The testimonies we heard were heartbreaking.
“Imagine someone travelling through an airport being questioned because their physical appearance does not match the sex indicated on official documents.
“Having to explain yourself everywhere you go is disheartening,” he said.
Moyo added: “The way forward is legislation to address this gap and awareness campaigns so that families, communities and institutions better understand these issues.”
He said his ministry, which has a mandate that includes child protection, would review policies and service delivery systems to ensure they cater for intersex persons.
“We will work on our policies and services as Government, together with the private sector, to ensure that we build a more inclusive society,” Moyo said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “intersex people are born with physical, hormonal, or genetic characteristics that do not conform to the typical binary biological definitions of male or female.”
This means that intersex traits may appear in various ways — sometimes visible at birth, sometimes only later in life.
The condition is a natural biological variation and is separate from gender identity or sexual orientation.
Zimbabwe’s latest move follows a legal and policy process that began in 2025 after Government accepted recommendations from the United Nations Human Rights Council calling for protection of intersex people from discrimination, human rights violations and non-consensual medical procedures.
In September last year, seven intersex individuals, including minors and adults, together with the Health Law and Policy Consortium and the Intersex Community of Zimbabwe, filed a constitutional challenge at the High Court seeking legal recognition.
The case challenged the absence of an intersex category in official documents such as birth certificates, national identity cards and passports.
Applicants also sought protection for intersex children from medical interventions carried out without informed consent.
Health Law and Policy Consortium chairperson Tinashe Mundawarara said the current legal framework denied intersex people equal access to services.
“By failing to ensure that intersex children are issued birth certificates that reflect their unique biological reality, the state denies them a fundamental right.
“This omission creates barriers to accessing healthcare, education, and other essential services,” said Mundawarara.
Intersex Community of Zimbabwe director Kudakwashe Murisa described the court action as a turning point.
“For the first time, the Zimbabwean legal system is being challenged to recognise the rights of intersex individuals as equal human beings under the Constitution.
“This case is not just about one individual — it’s about an entire community that has been invisible for too long,” said Murisa.
The legal gap stems from Zimbabwe’s birth registration system, which requires children to be recorded as either male or female.
The Births and Deaths Registration Act does not provide a separate category for intersex children, forcing parents and medical practitioners to select one of the two recognised options.
In some cases, doctors attempt to determine the dominant sex characteristics, a process activists say can result in decisions being made before children are old enough to participate.
The lack of recognition can later create difficulties when physical development does not correspond with the sex marker recorded on official documents.
Intersex people have reported challenges accessing education, healthcare, employment, banking services and travelling because their documents do not reflect their lived realities.
Luke, an intersex man who spoke using a pseudonym, said he was assigned female at birth after doctors struggled to classify his biological characteristics.
“I was born with ambiguous genitalia, and at birth, the midwives advised my mother to label me female since I did not fit into the male gender
“I was given the name Sharleen, and at the age of 16, I began developing more male-dominant features.
“That’s when I decided to transition to male,” he said.
Luke said his decision was rejected by some family members.
He added: “ My relatives did not take it well.”
“I decided to relocate to South Africa, where the environment was calmer and more accepting.
“After returning home years later, he said he struggled to rebuild relationships.
“I never reconnected with any of my relatives since they all knew me as a female.
“That broke me,” he said.
Luke said support from intersex organisations helped him accept himself and become an advocate for recognition.
“I would like the government to look into intersex issues seriously and listen to our lived realities.
“Society should not be quick to judge. Instead, it should take time to understand a person’s life and experiences,” he said.
He said discrimination also affected access to healthcare.
“I once walked away from a health facility after disclosing to a nurse that I am intersex.
“She called other male nurses to come and look at me — that really upset me, and I left without receiving medical attention,” he said.
