ZIMBABWEAN-BORN African Union goodwill ambassador on child marriages, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, yesterday called on Sadc leaders to formulate policies that will end child marriages as a way of protecting child rights.
Addressing a media briefing organised by Plan International in Harare, Gumbonzvanda urged Cabinet ministers, the legislature, the judiciary, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, and the police to deal with perpetrators of rape and early child marriage without fear or favour.
Gumbonzvanda said although Sadc members like Malawi and Zambia were in the top 10 list of countries affected by early child marriages, 31% of Zimbabwean girls had experienced early child marriage hence the need to deal with the scurge.
“Globally, 39 000 girls are married off each day, each year 14 million girls (which is the population of Zimbabwe) are married off, and according to United Nations data for Zimbabwe, 31% of women have been married off before the legal age of marriage, which means in every four persons, one has experienced early child marriage,” Gumbonzvanda said.
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“We need national strategies that deal with prevention, protection and empowerment of girls, a strong continental position to address the issue of cultural abuse and religious cults, and the need to monitor and evaluate interventions to end early child marriage because it is not enough to make speeches and rhetoric if things are not changing.”
Gumbonzvanda said there was need for fiscal support to finance interventions such as research, curriculum development and literature to end early child marriages, as well as to support emergency protection networks, publicity, and training of the police and other law enforcement agents to deal with the victims and perpetrators.
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Other interventions that were proposed included the need for harmonisation of marriage and criminal laws to adequately deal with early child marriages, as well as to deal with poverty which was one of the main causes leading to early child marriages.
“Heads of State and Government need to have serious political will to implement interventions to end early child marriages. There is also need for massive media engagement,” Gumbonzvanda said.
She said sexual violence was also associated with class and power, adding people should continue speaking out against early child marriages as the practice was a serious breach of children’s rights.
