At least 22 women a day are raped in Zimbabwe, according to the state statistics service.
Activists involved in countering gender-based violence said the figures from Zimbabwe National Statistics (Zimstat) indicated an increase in sexual abuse cases.
They said wealthy and politically connected perpetrators enjoyed immunity from prosecution for sexual crimes.
Some 7,110 rape and 1,693 indecent assault cases were reported between January and November last year, Zimstat said.
The Adult Rape Clinic (ARC) in Harare says it recorded 1,548 rape cases in the three years until March. Of those, 1,441 involved women victims.
"It is a crisis and should be taken seriously," said Memory Kadau, a co-director at ARC.
"The statistics tell us that women are not safe in this country. We need to address rape culture through challenging political, cultural, religious and social beliefs and practices that perpetuate sexual violence.
"Society should stop shaming and blaming survivors as well as giving excuses to rapists. There is no justification to rape," she said.
"Stiffer penalties for rape and sexual offences can also act as a deterrent."
According to the Female Students Network Trust, an organisation that seeks to empower women students, last year more than 670 women students reported having been sexually assaulted during dates with university staff who coerced them into drinking alcohol or injected them with drugs.
Abigail Matsvayi, director of the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association, said rape was "prevalent" in Zimbabwe and was underreported.
"It is important for survivors to be encouraged to break the silence and report these cases," Matsvayi said.
"It is also important… to ensure the systems for reporting are survivor-friendly so as to encourage reporting.
"The justice actors must strengthen the investigation of such crimes so as to gather sufficient evidence for effective prosecution and the meting out of stiff and deterrent sentences by the courts."
At a meeting last week on mandatory sentencing, the police's Victim-Friendly Unit reported that in 2018 about 370 sexual crimes were reported every month.
It is a crisis and should be taken seriously
— Memory Kadau, a co-director at ARC.
Virginia Muwanigwa, executive secretary of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC), said the statistics attested to the need for concerted efforts to not only punish perpetrators but to prevent rape in the first place.
"One challenge lies with stereotypes that seek to justify why one has been raped, rather than outright condemnation [of the rapist]," said Muwanigwa.
JOINT EFFORTS TO TACKLE RAPE ISSUES
She said the ZGC was monitoring issues such as sentencing and was involved in efforts to raise awareness of gender-based violence.
The commission was working with partners in the government, women's organisations and faith groups to push for a review of laws, policies and practices relating to gender-based violence, Muwanigwa said.
The ZGC recently initiated an investigation into a popular self-styled prophet amid accusations that law enforcement agents were reluctant to act on a litany of rape allegations by women congregants.
Police have routinely denied they are slow in handling rape allegations involving powerful men.
Abigail Gamanya, national director of Gender & Media Connect, said she believed the true rape figures were higher than those reported by the government.
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