About 93 percent of children reached grade 5. However, with the reintroduction of school fees in urban schools and rural secondary schools, enrollment has declined. If a family is unable to pay tuition costs, it is most often female children who leave school. The legal system does not discriminate against women or minorities. However, some High Court judges imposed lenient sentences in some cases of rape and child sexual abuse, and local women's and legal organizations challenged these decisions.
Women are underrepresented in government and politics.
Twenty of the 150 M.P.s are women, including the deputy speaker of the Parliament. Three cabinet ministers with portfolios, three ministers of state, and three deputy ministers are women. Violence against women Domestic violence against women, especially wife beating, is common and crosses all racial and economic lines. It extends throughout the country and at times results in death. The Musasa Project, a women's rights organization, established the country's first shelter for victims of domestic violence in Harare in 1997.