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NewsDay

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Laws exist, why do child marriages persist?

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At the age of 14, Chipo Chingoshi got married to her husband Stanley, a 32-year-old employed as a herdsman. The couple has a two-year-old daughter and lives in a small hut in the Seke rural area.

At the age of 14, Chipo Chingoshi got married to her husband Stanley, a 32-year-old employed as a herdsman. The couple has a two-year-old daughter and lives in a small hut in the Seke rural area.

BY SHARLEEN MOHAMMED

“When I got married, I thought I was running away from the poverty in our family. Life was so difficult such that we could not afford a decent meal,” says a tearful Chipo, who had to drop out of school as a result of her early marriage.

“I regret getting married young. I have since learned to endure tough situations such as going for the whole night on an empty stomach, especially with my baby, whom I am still breastfeeding since I cannot afford to give her food with the required nutrients,” says a tearful Chipo, before admitting that her future was now bleak.

Chipo’s mother, Agnes, who gave consent to her daughter’s marriage, says she had struggled to take care of a family of four, as she was the sole breadwinner.

Chipo’s story is clear testimony to the fact that poverty is the leading cause of child marriages in Zimbabwe. Despite the landmark High Court ruling of January 2016, which outlawed child marriages, social norms continue to provide a veneer of legitimacy to child marriages especially in remote areas.

According to Plan International, three in 10 girls in Zimbabwe are married before they turn 18. The organisation says young girls are often married off to older men for reasons that include restoring or maintaining family honour or to settle a father’s debts and to obtain some other financial gain.

A Unicef report says in 2015: “Child marriages in Mashonaland Central recorded 50%, Mashonaland west 42%, Mashonaland East 36%, Midlands 31%, Manicaland 30%, Matabeleland North 27%, Harare 19%, Matabeleland South 18% and Bulawayo 10%.”

The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act makes it a criminal offence for anyone to promise a girl under 18 in marriage or to force a girl or woman to enter into a marriage against her will.

“Any adult man, who has sexual relations with a willing child between ages 12 and 15 will be charged of statutory rape, as children in this age group are considered too immature to make informed decisions about their sexual behaviour,” reads the Act.

l The increase in child marriages is despite the fact that Zimbabwe’s Child Act provides for social protection of young people.

l These child marriages, which often subject young girls to violence, poverty and ill-treatment, have also been fuelled by cultural beliefs and lack of knowledge around legal protection.

In some families, educating the girl child has not been prioritised and it is the lack of education that may often drive the girl child into early marriage.

A recent report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) revealed that more than 140 million girls around the world will be married before they turn 18 over the next decade.

“When a young girl is married and gives birth, the vicious cycle of poverty, poor health, curtailed education, violence, instability, and disregard for rule of law continues into the next generation, especially for any daughters she may have,” the report said.

Harare West Member of Parliament, Jessie Majome said she was concerned that child marriages were fuelling rights violations around the country.

“Child marriages legitimise human rights violations and abuses of girls under the guise of culture, honour, tradition and religion.

“We are deeply concerned that the practices of child, early and forced marriages are widespread and constitute violations of human rights that prevent individuals from living their lives from all forms of violence that have adverse consequences on the enjoyment of human rights,” she said.

The health of most girls, who enter into early marriages has largely been compromised, according to the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights executive director, Calvin Fambirai.

“We have campaigned for the abolition of early and forced child marriages, as such marriages compromise the health, education and basic human rights of the child,” he said.

Statistics from the International Centre for Research on Women show that girls, who marry between the ages of 10 and 14, are five times likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth.

Child marriages have also been rampant in African states such as Niger, where 75% of girls are married before they turn 18, according to the UNPFA.

Under Niger’s law, the minimum age for marriage is 15, but traditional customs often prevail in villages. In Bangladesh, the rate of child marriage is 66%, and in the Central African Republic and Chad it is 68%. In India, 47% of girls are married before they turn 18.

Zimbabwe joined the African Union Campaign to end child marriages in mid-2015. The Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, with support from Unicef, UNWomen, UNFPA, the Child Rights and Women’s Rights Coalitions, has been working on a National Action Plan to End Child Marriages and its related communication for development activities. The Constitutional Court ruling of January 2016 has been an impetus to move the agenda forward.  All these efforts are part of the global campaign to end child marriages.