“The Constitution states that a person may marry at the age of 18. The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act stipulates that a person may consent to sexual relations at the age of 16. The Marriage Act sets the age of marriage at 16 years. So if we have laws that are not constitutional, it creates a lot of problems. The laws are failing us,” she said. It also stipulates that everyone who has attained the age of eighteen has the right to found a family and that no one may be compelled to marry against his or her will. Child marriage in Zimbabwe has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Without schools that function personally, children have less protection and suffer more human rights violations, such as child marriage and pregnancy. The following practices will help UNICEF reduce child marriage in 2021: The “Romeo and Juliet clause” is often legally aimed at protecting underage children engaged in consensual sexual activities among themselves from criminal prosecution. The Domestic Violence Act prohibits not only the pledging of women and girls, but also forced and child marriages.
Child marriage in Zimbabwe predates the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that efforts to eliminate the practice require a wide range of economic and cultural containment tactics, rather than focusing solely on eradicating the coronavirus. Their bold legal challenge has made waves not only in Zimbabwe, but around the world. The landmark decision was made in January 2016 by Chief Justice Luke Malaba, then Associate Chief Justice. The gap between the age of consent and the legal age of marriage has sparked debate within the country`s legal fraternity and women`s organizations, leading some to call for a realignment of laws providing for the age of sexual consent with the constitution`s legal age of marriage. Human Rights Watch has also documented discriminatory social norms that link a girl`s perceived sexual “purity” to her family`s honor. If a girl becomes pregnant, spends the night outside the family home, is seen with a friend, or comes home late after seeing a boyfriend, her family may force her to marry for reasons of honor. In some cases, girls who become pregnant or are sexually active opt for a joint marriage because they fear rejection, beating or abuse by relatives. In most cases of child marriage documented by Human Rights Watch, girls did not receive sex education before becoming pregnant or getting married. The Ministry of Health and Child Protection found in a 2010 survey that young people, especially those aged 10 to 14, lacked basic knowledge about reproductive health. The government`s national curriculum does not include a comprehensive sex education curriculum.
Many Zimbabweans fear that providing contraceptives to young people contributes to overcrowding. Many indigenous apostolic churches actively advise against contraceptive use. The negative health consequences of young people`s limited access to reproductive health information and services can be life-threatening. Early births contribute to maternal mortality and are one of the leading causes of death among girls aged 15-19 worldwide. Although Zimbabwe`s overall HIV infection rate has declined, it remains high at 15 percent, and Zimbabwe has the sixth highest number of annual AIDS-related deaths among adolescents in the world. According to UNAIDS, HIV prevalence among women and girls aged 15-24 is almost twice as high as among men and boys of the same age. “Zimbabwe`s government and religious leaders should recognise that comprehensive sexuality education and access to contraception are key to preventing child marriage and protecting girls from HIV transmission and early births,” Mavhinga said. “Premature birth can result in death or serious injury, including obstetric fistula.” Some child brides interviewed by Human Rights Watch had experienced violence such as beatings or insults from their in-laws or other family members. Almost all child brides said their husbands abandoned them and left them to care for children without financial support. Many described psychological distress and suicidal feelings because of their situation.
Education can help protect against child marriage, but many girls said they dropped out of school because their families could not afford the cost of schooling. Almost all child brides interviewed by Human Rights Watch were unable to continue their education after marriage, either because of their financial situation, because their husbands could not afford it, or because they had to care for a baby. Many indigenous apostolic churches prohibit girls from continuing their education after marriage. An elder of the Johwane Marange Apostolic Church in Masvingo said: “Formal education is not important because the church will teach him the skills to work with his hands and provide for his family. Skills like weaving baskets and mats for sale. In October 2014, two former child brides petitioned the Constitutional Court to criminalise child marriage and declare it unconstitutional. They asked the court to declare 18 as the minimum age for marriage and to amend all marriage laws. The Government dismissed the legal action on the grounds that the applicants had not been forced to marry children, but had “simply chosen to live in unregistered partnerships when they were minors”; And since the marriage law allows girls to marry at 16 and boys at 18, “differentiation results from the biological and psychological maturity levels of boys and girls.” In July, Zimbabwe became the eighth country to join the African Union`s campaign to end child marriage in Africa. In her keynote address, Zimbabwe`s First Lady Grace Mugabe called on the Ministry of Justice to revise Zimbabwe`s laws to set the minimum age of marriage at 18, but her recommendation has not been implemented. The government has yet to finalise and implement a national action plan to end child marriage, as requested by the African Union. The action plan should outline the government`s strategies in partnership with key stakeholders – donors, community leaders, youth and non-governmental groups – to address child marriage in Zimbabwe.
“President Mugabe and his government should not ignore the suffering of hundreds of thousands of girls in Zimbabwe who are deprived of their future by early marriage,” Mavhinga said. “The government should drop its objection to the constitutional complaint, reform its laws, and ensure that the minimum age of marriage is set at 18 across the country, including for religious denominations.” More details, recommendations and child bride reviews can be found below. Child marriage in Zimbabwe Africa is home to 15 of the 20 countries in the world with the highest rates of child marriage. According to UNICEF, the number of child brides in Africa is expected to double by 2050 if current trends continue. Zimbabwe`s National Statistics Agency released the results of a survey called the Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in 2014, which found that 32.9 percent of women aged 20 to 49 married before the age of 18. There is no comprehensive national study, either by the Zimbabwean government or independent organisations, on the number of girls dropping out of school due to child marriage or other adverse effects they suffer. The government has not presented an action plan to create and strengthen community-based child protection mechanisms with a particular focus on child marriage, including shelters or other mechanisms to support girls who have been rejected by their husbands or families. Local organizations such as Musasa Project – a non-governmental organization that works to protect the rights of girls and women – offer protection to abused girls, but their facilities are not available throughout the country.
According to Real Open Opportunities for Transformation Support (ROOTS), a non-governmental organisation working to end child marriage in Zimbabwe, child marriage is more prevalent in poor traditional farming communities and in areas where illegal gold mining is the main source of income. Illegal gold miners have easy access to cash when selling gold, allowing them to attract vulnerable girls living in poverty. Shortcomings in Zimbabwe`s child protection system result in a lack of protection for victims of child marriage and significant barriers for girls seeking redress. For example, girls have little information about their rights, often do not have the money to travel where they can seek protection from the authorities, and when they do, the authorities often dismiss their concerns as a “family matter”. Conflicting laws Zimbabwe has conflicting legal provisions on the minimum age of marriage. Zimbabwe`s constitution does not explicitly prohibit child marriage and a number of laws effectively tolerate it. Article 78 of the Constitution provides that everyone over the age of 18 has the right to found a family and that no one shall be compelled to marry against his or her will. However, the government has stated that Article 78 does not set 18 as the minimum age for marriage, but simply gives people over 18 the right to found a family. Zimbabwe`s Customary Marriages Act does not set a minimum age for marriage, while the Marriage Act, which regulates monogamous marriages, stipulates that girls under the age of 16 may not marry without the written consent of the Minister of Justice. The Penal Code (Codification and Reform) criminalizes anyone who promises marriage to a girl under the age of 18 or who forces a girl or woman to marry against her will.
It also criminalizes the use of cultural or customary rites or practices to force a woman to marry. It provides that any adult male who has sex with a consenting child between the ages of 12 and 15 is guilty of legal rape because children in that age group are considered too immature to make informed decisions about their sexual behaviour, so the child`s consent is not a defence.