By Prince Gora
Life as a university student in Zimbabwe is not easy. Tuition fees are barely payable and things like accommodation and food – which are basic human needs – end up seeming like luxuries.
To survive, many university students have had to devise various cost cutting methods. These include sharing living quarters and expenses with friends, classmates and even just schoolmates. A sizeable number of students also cut costs by sharing living quarters and expenses with their partners.
Elsewhere in the world, say for example, in the Western World, this is not a big deal. In Zimbabwe though, it is; which is probably why most parents are not aware of these so-called “semester marriages.”
“Semester marriages” are entered into by students who cohabit together during semester periods.
The Oxford Advanced English Dictionary defines cohabitation as the act of living together and having sexual relationship (without being married).
The individuals involved in “semester marriages” are usually called campus couples. The female in such situation performs wifely duty while the male take the role of the husband/breadwinner.
Causes of semester marriages are plenty and range from a high cost of living to accommodation which continues to be scarce in the country forcing many students to live outside campus and often in overpopulated environments. A desire for sexual gratification, the thrills of intimacy away from parental restriction, privacy or couples thinking of scaling up on their commitment levels are also common causes. For male students, having a student “wife” makes one lead a comfortable life as their partners prepare meals and do the laundry work.
Does semester marriages save students hundreds of dollars in costs every month? Hell yeah! Does it have negative consequences that should get us worried as well? Of course.
First, there are risks of unwanted pregnancies. Since the students involved are usually not prepared to become parents, they may make attempts to abort such pregnancies. Such abortions (which the individuals will usually want to be discreet about) may eventually put the female partner at risk of death or uterine damage. In cases where the couple decide to keep the pregnancy, the ability of the female student involved to study may be negatively affected by the arrival of the “unwanted babies.”
The wife duties performed by the lady in the relationship may also take a toll on her ability to take part in school work. At the end of the day, she may end up dropping out of school
Another consequence of cohabitation is that it may make the male partner to engage in social vices in order to keep the "marriage" afloat. This is because, the allowance provided by his parents may not be enough to take care of him and his campus wife. Some male students may end up engaging in crime or joining cult groups.
In 2019, a Masvingo Polytechnic was jailed an effective five years after he stole a car and tried to sell it to raise money for the upkeep of his demanding lover, who was also studying at the same institution.
Appearing before Masvingo regional Magistrate Mrs Dambudzo Malunga facing theft charges, Darlington Sagia (then aged just 21), Saga was convicted after pleading guilty.
He said that his live-in girlfriend was always pestering him for money to pay rentals and other household needs, yet he was still a student without a reliable source of income.
Another consequence of semester marriages is that such relationships sooner or later becomes monotonous which sometimes lead to loss of their professed love. In such cases, one or both of the partners may begin to engage in sexual abuse, domestic or emotional violence. This will eventually lead to emotional trauma which may end up affecting the academic performance of one both of the partners.
Semester marriages are also believed to be a major cause in increasing the rate of sexual transmitted infections (STIs) like HIV as they are usually for a short period, and new semesters bring potential new opposite sex room-mates. There are also the so called no-strings attached unions.
A report on HIV/Aids in institutions of higher learning in Zimbabwe revealed that students in these “semester marriages” only use condoms for the first few times of sexual interaction and then abandon them later.
Depression, mental health issues, nude pictures, revenge porn and excessive use of oral contraceptives by female students should also get us concerned. There are several cases where students commit suicides after former live-in partners leak nude pictures.
Conclusion
Parents need to take greater care of their children. They must visit and find out where their children live, meet roommates, etc. Accommodation on campus should also be affordable to students so that they are not vulnerable to various kinds of exploitation, including co-habitation.
