“Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child (Proverbs 13:24): Cultural Hermeneutical Contestations on Childhood Maltreatment in Zimbabwe”

Child maltreatment often has severe short- and long-term physical, sexual and mental health consequences. These include head injuries and severe disability in young children; post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression; and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. Adolescent girls may face additional health issues, including gynaecological disorders and unwanted pregnancy. Childhood maltreatment can affect cognitive and academic performance and is strongly associated with alcohol and drug abuse. Despite the celebration of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) of 1989 for transforming the global perception of child rights and childhood maltreatment over the past three decades, the cultural hermeneutical contestations on childhood upbringing continued to hibernate child maltreatment on different corners of the world, especially in Africa. This chapter uses both biblical hermeneutics and indigenous culture as lenses to understand the meaning of child upbringing. Such a position inevitably assists in appraising the root of child maltreatment in Zimbabwe. Given the preceding, cultural hermeneutical contestations on childhood maltreatment marinated with religious belief systems predominantly perpetuate the abovementioned forms of maltreatment and abuse in Zimbabwe. Underpinned by the Biblical statement “spare the rod and spoil the child” from Proverbs 13:24, this phenomenological desktop research seeks to unravel cultural hermeneutical contestations on childhood maltreatment in Zimbabwe. The study recommends and establishes the expeditious need for professionalizing religious leadership and practice in Zimbabwe.