Zimbabwe has not been spared by the coronavirus disease COVID-19 which has wreaked havoc throughout the world. The country is currently grappling with the pandemic against a background of multiple complex socio-economic conditions. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has escalated prevalent human rights concerns and challenges, including health disparities, poverty, child sexual abuse, access to education, and freedom of speech. Although vaccines are an important tool for reducing the incidence of life-threatening diseases, social determinants of health contribute to vaccine hesitancy. This paper is based on scoping literature review of various relevant materials on the social determinants of health that are inhibiting Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing discourses on COVID-19. Four main themes are highlighted as social determinants of COVID-19 vaccination: (i) vaccination priority groups; (ii) vaccination hesitancy due to myths; (iii) social exclusion; and (iv) corruption. Findings are discussed in light of the implications to the right to health and other related rights. We recommend that governments of developing countries and stakeholders intensify myth-busting campaigns if vaccination programmes are to gain currency. We further call for the inclusion of priority groups such as persons with disabilities and the elderly on the vaccination priority list.

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Although parents are a vital cog in instilling and maintaining child discipline, very little information exists about the methods they employ. Using a qualitative approach, this paper explored the methods used by parents in Zimbabwe—an African context—to discipline children, elucidating their implications on children’s rights. The findings show that parents in Zimbabwe use both violent and non-violent disciplinary methods such as verbal reprimand, beating, and spanking, which, at times, violates children’s rights in the process. The use of non-violent means has also depicted a violation of children’s rights through deprivation of food, denial of playtime and shelter. Evident from the findings was, again, the existence of multiple-layered contestations on child discipline within the socio-cultural discourse—the most popularized being the debate on corporal punishment versus child rights violations. Through social work lenses, the paper provides a basis to dispel an anachronistic thought, which rationalizes the instrumentalization of punishment to achieve child discipline, underscoring the need for child rights-oriented discipline.

Women around the globe have suffered and still suffer from sexual harassment within their homes, workplaces, and even in schools. Despite the trending of a new form of sexual harassment termed "sex-for-marks" within university settings, there is evidence of underreporting of these cases. Against this background, the paper sought to investigate factors that may be causing under-reporting of such cases in order to make practical recommendations that can strengthen the reporting mechanism for sexual harassment within institutions of higher learning in Zimbabwe. Underpinned by a qualitative paradigm, the paper shows that underreporting of "sex-for-marks" cases is influenced by fear of failure, unclear reporting systems, the laxity from authorities in dealing with the cases, and the stigma and shame that is transferred on to the victims.Through the advocacy role of social work practice, the paper calls for the desensitization of sexuality and sexual behavior in order to challenge the culture of silence, which has proved to be the breeding ground for under-reportage of sex-for-marks cases. The paper further encourages universities to consider partnering with theater and music departments to offer edutainment-a way of promoting awareness on sexual harassment and the "sex-for-marks" phenomenon.