MEDIA BRIEF - Panos Institute Southern Africa (PSAf) · 2017. 4. 5. · This Media Brief on Ending...

MEDIA BRIEFON ENDING CHILD MARRIAGES

IN ZIMBABWE

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Table of Contents

Acronyms ivAcknowledgements vForeword vi

CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION 1

1.1. Introduction 11.2. Background and Rationale of the Media Brief 1

CHAPTER TWO: COUNTRY SITUATION ANALYSIS ON CHILD MARRIAGES 3

2.1. General Overview 32.2. The Case of Child Marriages 32.3. Drivers of Child Marriages in Zimbabwe 5

2.3.1. Poverty 52.3.2. Limited Access to Education 62.3.3. Peer Pressure 62.3.4. Religion- 62.3.5. Traditional and cultural practices that promote child marriages 7

2.4. Consequences of Child Marriages 82.4.1. Physiological consequences 82.4.2. Economic consequences 92.4.3. Social consequences 92.4.4. Psychosocial Effects 10

2.5. Interventions in Zimbabwe 102.5.1. Discussions in Parliament 102.5.2. Legal Challenges 112.5.3. Petitions 112.5.4. Safeguard Young People (SYP) 112.5.5. Ending Child Marriages: 18+ Campaign 112.5.6. Girls Not Brides 112.5.7. Plan Zimbabwe programmes 122.5.8. The National Programme of Action for Children 122.5.9. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission 12

2.6. Challenges in Ending Child Marriages 122.6.1. High poverty levels 122.6.2. Definition of a child 122.6.3. Fragmented Legal Framework 132.6.4. Lack of political will 13

CHAPTER THREE: INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL AND DOMESTIC LAWS AND POLICIES

ON CHILD MARRIAGES 14

3.1. International Instruments and how they relate to Child Marriages 14

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3.1.1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 143.1.2. The Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women

(CEDAW) 143.1.3. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 15

3.1.3.1. Limitations of the constitution 163.2. Regional Instruments on Child Marriages 16

3.2.1. African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child – (ACRWR) 173.2.2. SADC Protocol on Gender and Development 183.2.3. Eastern and Southern Africa Ministerial Commitment on comprehensive sexuality

education and SRHR services for adolescents and young people 183.3 National Legal Instruments on Child Marriages 18

3.3.1. The Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe (2013) 193.3.2. Customary Personal Law 19

3.3.2.1. Limitation of Customary Personal Law 203.3.3. The Customary Marriages Act (Chapter 5:07) 20

3.3.3.1. Limitation of the Customary Marriage Act 213.3.4. The Marriage Act (Chapter 5:11) 21

3.3.4.1. Limitations of the Marriage Act 213.3.5. The Children’s Act (Chapter 5:06) 213.3.6. The Births and Deaths Registration Act (Chapter 5:02) of 1986 22

3.3.6.1. Limitation of the Birth and Registration Act 223.3.7. Domestic Violence Act (Chapter 5:16) 223.3.8. Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act) 23

3.4 National Policies 233.4.1. National Plan of Action (NPA) for Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC) 233.4.2. Education Policy 233.4.3. The National Health Strategy 243.4.4. Gender Policy 253.4.5. National Plans of Action e.g ZIMASSET 253.4.6. Social Protection Programmes 25

CHAPTER FOUR: ADVOCACY TO END CHILD MARRIAGES 26

4.1. Introduction 264.2. Role of the Community 264.3. Role of Traditional Leaders 27

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 28

5.1. Conclusion 285.2. Recommendations 28

REFERENCES 29

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Acronyms

ACRWR – African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

BEAM – Basic Education Assistance Module

CEDAW – Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women

CRC – Convention on the Rights of the Child

ESA – Eastern and Southern African

GCN – Girl Child Network

HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus

MDGs – Millennium Development Goals

MIMS – Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Monitoring Survey

NAC – National AIDS Council

NHS – National Health Strategy

NPA – National Plan of Action

OVC – Orphans and other Vulnerable Children

PRB – Population Reference Bureau

PSAf – Panos Institute Southern Africa

RAU – Research and Advocacy Unit

SADC – Southern African Development Community

UDHR – Universal Declaration of Human Rights

UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund

UNFPA – United Nations Population Fund

ZDHS – Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey

ZIMSTATS – Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency

ZIMASSET – Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation

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Acknowledgements

This Media Brief on Ending Child Marriages in Zimbabwe is a product of Panos Institute SouthernAfrica (PSAf).

The Media Brief was compiled by Ms. Jennifer Dube, an independent consultant who also conductedmost of the background research. It was reviewed and edited by Mamoletsane Khati and Lilian Kieferof PSAf.

PSAf extends its gratitude to Plan International for supporting the Ending Child Marriages in SouthernAfrica project, under which this Media Brief has been produced.

We would also like to thank other stakeholders who participated in and supported the various activitiesto generate information for the Media Brief.

For more information and to request for copies, please contact:Panos Institute Southern Africa (PSAf)Plot 9028 Buluwe Road, WoodlandsP. O Box 39163Lusaka, ZambiaTel: +260-978-778148/9Fax: +260-211-261039Email: [email protected]: www.panos.org.zm© Panos Institute Southern Africa 2015

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Foreword

The media is a key stakeholder in ensuring that the public is well sensitized about the consequences ofchild marriages, that law enforcement agencies and their officers are alerted about such practices, andthat they create a platform for other stakeholders such as children to share experiences on child marriage.

Child marriage is a violation of children's rights whether it happens to a girl or a boy. It represents perhapsthe most prevalent form of sexual abuse and exploitation of girls. It is also a direct form of discriminationagainst the girl child, who, as a result of the practice, is often deprived of her basic rights to health,education, development, and equality.

Child marriage adversely impacts upon the well-being of children generally, and the girl child in particular,in numerous other ways. For example, given that most girls get married to much older men early marriagerenders them susceptible to physical, emotional and sexual abuse, as well as early widowhood.

Children should be protected from early marriages considering the physical and mental burdens theserelationships entail and the need to develop the child intellectually, physically and psychologically. Childmarriages undermine almost all the foundational principles of child rights–non-discrimination, the rightto life, survival and development, participation and the child’s best interests. Much as the girl child isadversely affected by the inaccessibility of all four principles, the issue of non-discrimination is a key driverwith regards to the position of the girl child.

Child marriage is a multi-faceted phenomenon that requires involvement of the physical, social, culturaland legal support from different stakeholders. It needs a multi-sectoral approach in order to win the fight.There is therefore need for an informed citizenry that will respond positively to the initiatives that areintended to fight against the vice.

Despite the power and influence they wield, however, media houses and journalists do not often adequatelyreport on development issues in their reporting.

Panos Institute Southern Africa (PSAf) acknowledges the need for effective capacity building of the mediato address the issues of child marriages. This is in the form of relevant information to enhance their rolein raising awareness and influencing behavior change as the public questions harmful cultural andtraditional practices and improving their contribution in the fight against child marriages.

It is my hope that the media personnel will find this brief helpful in closing this lacuna by enhancing theirunderstanding child marriages in an in-depth and effective way.

Lilian KieferExecutive DirectorPanos Institute Southern Africa

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CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION

1.1. Introduction

Child marriage, also known as early marriage, is defined as a “formal marriage or informal maritalunion before 18 years” 1. According to a research paper on “Early Marriage as a Barrier to Girls’Education”, the marriage involves either one or both spouses being physically, physiologically, andpsychologically not ready to shoulder the responsibilities of marriage and childbearing.” 2 Girls NotBrides argues that while boys are sometimes subjected to early marriage, girls are disproportionatelyaffected and form the vast majority of the victims of child marriage.

Early marriage represents perhaps the most prevalent form of sexual abuse and exploitation of girls.It is also a direct form of discrimination against the girl child, who, as a result of the practice, is oftendeprived of her basic rights to health, education, development, and equality. The harmful consequencesinclude separation from family and friends, lack of freedom to interact with peers and participate incommunity activities, and decreased opportunities for education. Because they cannot abstain fromsex or insist on condom use, child brides are often exposed to such serious health risks as prematurepregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and, increasingly, HIV and AIDS.3

According to www.girlsnotbrides.org, “child marriage is a truly global problem that cuts acrosscountries, cultures, religions and ethnicities”. This makes it essential to come up with interventionsthat aim to eradicate the practice, and allowing children to grow and fulfill their potential as adults.

According to a 2012 report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on ending child marriages,an estimated 15 million girls aged under 18 years are married worldwide every year, with little or nosay in the matter. The situation is more prevalent in the developing world where one in nine girls ismarried before her 15th birthday and some child brides are as young as eight or nine4.

1.2. Background and Rationale of the Media Brief

PSAf identifies the media as a key role player in stimulating public debate and dialogue amongcommunities. Through the media, communities can be mobilised and influenced positively to promoteenjoyment of human rights and facilitate development of every citizenry. It is therefore fundamentalthat the media is used to reach out to the public and communities to ensure that the issues aroundchild marriages are well understood and child rights respected.

1 Child Protection from Violence, exploitation and abuse, UNICEF, October 2014. accessed on 2 December 2014 throughhttp://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58008.html

2 Bayisenge J, Early Marriage As A Barrier To Girl’s Education: A Developmental Challenge In Africa, National University of Rwanda , Accessedon 2/12/2014 through http://www.academia.edu/7872766/EARLY_MARRIAGE_AS_A_BARRIER_TO_GIRLS_EDUCATION_A_Developmental_Challenge_in_Africa

3 UNICEF (2006). Child Protection Information Sheet: Child Marriage, UNICEF, New York. p.1.4 Marrying Too Young, UNFPA, 2012.

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MEDIA BRIEF ON ENDING CHILD MARRIAGES IN ZIMBABWE

The media is the most effective conduit through which people seek, receive and share informationon any issue, including child marriage. The media has the ability to raise public awareness aboutgeneral rights and laws that impact on child marriage through the use different platforms and differentformats to package and present facts and figures to different stakeholders, which will in turn influencepublic participation in addressing child marriage. Through various platforms, the media can stimulatedebate and discussions geared towards influencing positive response through the coverage of casebased human interest stories, highlighting the effects of child marriage. It is therefore important forthe media to play a leading role as an informer, educator and mediator on issues of child marriages.

This media brief is inspired by the need to ensure that journalists effectively communicate childmarriage issues and ensure that they deliver effective and investigative reporting. With their capacityimproved, journalists would play a critical role in creating awareness on the evolving issues of childmarriages, putting the issues on the public agenda by covering related topics regularly and in aresponsible manner.

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CHAPTER TWO: COUNTRY SITUATION ANALYSIS ON CHILDMARRIAGES

2.1 General Overview

According to a 2012 population census conducted by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency(ZIMSTATS), Zimbabwe’s population is 13 million. This number excludes citizens living outsideZimbabwe. Of this 13 million, 67 percent live in the rural areas while 33 percent are based in urbanareas. The census concluded that 6, 7 million Zimbabweans are female while 6, 2 million are male.The population is relatively young, with 41 percent below 15 years and 4 percent 65 years and above.

The census also concluded that 58 percent Zimbabweans were married or in union. The case of childmarriages is shown by the census’ finding that 22 percent females compared to 2 percent males inthe 15-19 years age group were married or in union at the time of the census.

These findings are confirmed by a 2014 government survey conducted by the UNFPA and ZIMSTATSwhich concluded that 5 percent women and 0, 3 percent men aged 15-49 years were first marriedor in union before the age of 15 years while one in three women and less than 1 in 20 men age 20-49 were first married or in union before age 18 years.

2.2 The Case of Child Marriages

Child marriage is a major public health and social development challenge for Zimbabwe, just as it isfor many other affected countries. Zimbabwe is among 41 countries with the highest prevalence ofchild marriage in the world. On average, one out of three girls in the country gets married before their18th birthday5. Five percent of women aged 15-49 years currently in marriage or union were marriedbefore the age 15 (rural 6 percent, urban 2 percent).A situation analysis conducted by Plan Zimbabwein 2011 established that in some of the most affected places, some brides are as young as 12 yearsold.6 A 2009 ZIMSTATS survey concluded that the median age at first marriage has been decliningfrom 19 years for women currently aged 45-49 years to 16 years for those aged 15-19 years. Marriagebefore age 15 years decreased with education of women and household wealth, and increased withage of woman. On the other hand, 32 percent of the women aged 20-49 years currently in marriageor union were married before age 18 years, (rural areas 39 percent, and urban areas 21 percent).Marriage before age 18 years decreased as education and wealth increased. The proportion of womenaged 20-49 years who married before age 18 years was highest in the age group 45-49 years at 40percent compared to around 31 percent in the rest of the age groups.

5 Marrying Too Young, UNFPA, 2012 .6 Situation analysis on adolescent girls, Plan Zimbabwe, 2011

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Table 1: Age at First Marriage

Percentage of women who were first married by specific exact ages and mean age at first marriage,according to current age, MIMS, Zimbabwe, 2009

Literature from UNFPA and other agencies shows that the problem is more common in rural areascompared to urban areas. This is because rural dwellers are more exposed to the drivers of childmarriage than their urban counterparts. A 2012 UNFPA report based on data collected between 2000and 2011 across Zimbabwe concluded that women aged 20- 24 years and living in rural areas wereabout twice as likely to be married or in union before age 18 than their urban counterparts, addingthat this urban-rural divide has remained at roughly the same level since 2006. Although affectingchildren across the various sections of society, early marriage in Zimbabwe has also been seen to beprevalent among the Apostolic Sects, especially the Johanne Marange church, which has an estimatedmembership of 1, 2 million people across the country.

The 2012 UNFPA survey concluded that child marriage is highest in Mashonaland Central Province(50 percent), followed by Mashonaland West Province (42 percent), Masvingo (39 percent), MashonalandEast (36 percent), Midlands (31 percent), Manicaland (30 percent), Matabeleland North (27 percent),Harare (19 percent), Matabeleland South (18 percent), and Bulawayo (10 percent). The UNFPA studyand the other literature reviewed for the development of this media brief do not provide the reasonsfor these variations.

The Girl Child Network (GCN), a civic organisation involved in the empowerment and education ofgirls in Africa, in 2011 said an estimated 8 000 girls from Zimbabwe were forced into early marriagesor were held as sex slaves since 2008.

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Figure 1: Prevalence of child marriages per Province in Zimbabwe

2.3. Drivers of Child Marriages in Zimbabwe

There are a number of factors that influence child marriages in Zimbabwe. Poverty, cultural traditions,laws that allow child marriages, religious and social pressures and lack of education are some of thedrivers of child marriage, which is in fact a violation of children's rights whether it happens to a girlor a boy. These drivers can be summed as follows:

2.3.1 Poverty

According to the African Development Bank, Zimbabwe’s economy remains in a fragile state, with anunsustainably high external debt and massive deindustrialisation and informalisation. Although theunemployment rate in 2013 was officially pegged at 11 percent, independent analysts have peggedit above 70 percent, adding that a lot of people are out of formal employment and the majority ofthose who are employed formally or informally earn way below the poverty datum line of US$500(as of October 2014).

The difficult economic situation has seen some children, especially girls, opting for marriage. TheUNFPA found that girls from the poorest 20 percent of the households in its Zimbabwe survey weremore than four times as likely to be married or in union before age 18 than girls from the richest 20percent of the households.

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According to the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), many child marriages “are related to poverty,with parents needing the bride price of a daughter to feed, clothe, educate, and house the rest of thefamily”7. This means that in some cases, parents ignore the plight of the girl to alleviate their situation.

2.3.2 Limited Access to Education

A 2009 survey by ZIMSTAT shows that the less educated a girl is, the higher the chances of her gettinginto early marriage. This is confirmed by a UNFPA survey which concluded that 33 percent of womenaged 20-24 with no education and 55 percent with primary education were married or in union atage 18, compared to 23 percent of women with secondary education or higher. Lack of educationoften disempowers children, reducing their employment opportunities and other options thussometimes forcing them into these marriages.

Lack of money for school fees and unavailability of nearby secondary schools also contribute to thelimited access and as thus many rural girls get married soon after Grade Seven. Most of these girlsare between 12 and 15 years of age and parents allow them to get married as they do not want tobe ashamed should the child fall pregnant while staying with them. Again, despite all the gendercampaigns, some people still view boys as superior to girls and prefer sending them to school whilegirls succumb to early marriage. Girls are also overburdened with domestic chores before and afterclasses, making many of them to score lesser marks than boys in examinations. Some even drop outof school due to poor performance, thus being more exposed to early marriage.

2.3.3. Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is also seen as a strong driver of child marriage. It is common to hear girls and womenadvising each other that one should get married early to avoid problems associated with child bearingat an older age and also curing such things as menstrual pains. This is despite repeated efforts byhealth workers to dispel the myth that childbearing heals menstrual pains and also clarifying that at35 years old, a Zimbabwean woman can still have a safe pregnancy thus eliminating the need to haveone before 18. The 2009 ZIMSTATS survey alluded to above concluded that some girls in Chipingeand Tsholotsho dropped out of school and got involved with South Africa based men out of thedesire to be at the same level with their friends who were already involved in such relationships.

2.3.4 Religion

It is a very common practice for some religious groups, especially the apostolic sects, to marry offgirls at a tender age. In some of these sects, someone purporting to be a prophet does the match-making ostensibly after getting a revelation from God. Even if a young girl is matched with someone

7 Let them Grow First: Early Marriage in Goromonzi, Zimbabwe, Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), 2014

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8 Let them Grow First, Early Marriage in Goromonzi, Zimbabwe, Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), 2014.

as old as her grandfather, the revelation has to be honoured. For example, in most parts of ruralManicaland, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East, the practice is prevalent among membersof the indigenous apostolic sects, popularly known as Vapositori.

2.3.5 Traditional and cultural practices that promote child marriages

There are a range of traditional, cultural and customary practices which promote child marriages inthe various parts of Zimbabwe. So entrenched are these practices in some communities that theconcept of “Child, Early and Forced Marriage” is almost non-existent despite legal definitions that achild is anyone below the age of 18 years8. These include: lobola, initiation rites, chiramu/ukulamuza

and chimutsa mapfihwa.

a) Lobola – Bride Price

The commoditisation of girls through the charging of huge amounts of lobola/bride price actsas an incentive for some families to marry off their daughters. While in the past people used topay a token of appreciation in the form of hoes among other things, nowadays some familiescharge outrageous amounts for their daughters. Again, it is a general practice for a son-in-lawto consistently assist his wife’s family, ensuring they have enough food, accommodating thewife’s siblings at his house and meeting all their day-to-day needs. Some families thus agree tomarry off their children because of these benefits.

b) Initiation rites and ceremonies

These are done by such communities as the Shangaan in Chiredzi and the Xhosa in Mbembesi,and have contributed to child marriages by putting a lot of emphasis on sex in the definition ofmanhood and womanhood. A 2011 Plan Zimbabwe survey concluded that many children inthese communities do not return to school after these rites and some of those who return havebeen seen to start attaching little value to education.

c) Chiramu/Ukulamuza

This is when a man is allowed to refer to his wife’s young sisters or female cousins and nieces ashis wives. This includes a number of wife roleplaying to the husband which was seen as a wayto make the females to feel welcome at their female relative’s home. Traditionally, a typical sister’sor aunt’s husband would call the girl “my wife” and jokes about her owning everything in thehouse including the property, himself and the children. Nowadays, some men abuse thistraditional practice by having both forced and consensual sexual relations with their wives’ youngfemale relatives. When this happens, some of these men offer to marry the girl and in some partsof the country, the in-laws agree because traditionally, the girl “is his wife”.

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d) Chimutsa mapfiwa

This is whereby a widower’s in-laws give him his late wife’s young sister, cousin or niece as areplacement wife. Related to this, some people offer these girls as second wives to “help” bearchildren for the husbands of those older relatives who have gone for an extended period inmarriage without a child.

e) Kuripa ngozi

This is whereby a virgin girl is offered as atonement for murder to make peace between amurderer’s family and that of his/her victim. In such cases, a virgin girl, together with cattle andin some cases corn and large sums of money, is given as atonement for the murder. The girl isusually given to the victim’s male relative so that she can bear a child to replace the victim.

2.4. Consequences of Child Marriages

Child marriages have a number of negative consequences on children, and the people around them.By getting married before they reach the legal age, girls are in all respects not ready to play the roleof wives and mothers.

2.4.1. Physiological consequences

i) Injury during sex

A 2014 UNFPA/ZIMSTAT survey concluded that 19. 9 percent of women age 15-19 years, and17.5 percent of women age 20-24 years were married or in union with a spouse 10 or more yearsolder. The girl thus risks getting injured during sex as her body is not yet strong enough for suchactivity, especially when doing it with a man who is much older than her and probably moreexperienced in the act.

ii) Exposure to sexually transmitted infections

The huge age gap sometimes creates an imbalance in the way the girl relates with her supposedhusband, giving her little room to negotiate for safe sex thus increasing her exposure to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.

iii) Pregnancy and maternal related complications

The girls in such situations have been seen to lack knowledge about family planning thusincreasing their risk to complications and death during pregnancy and childbirth. The UNFPAin 2012 said only 36.2 percent of married girls were using contraception in spite of their needsto space their childbearing time. Unmet need for family planning among this group is 17.1percent, which is higher than the overall unmet need for women of child bearing age which isat 12.8 percent.

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A 2009 report by UNICEF concluded that adolescent mothers between the ages of 15 and 19 aretwice as likely to die of pregnancy and childbirth complications as women between the ages of20 and 24 years. The situation is worse for girls under the age of 15 as they are five times morelikely to die from maternal causes like obstetric fistula to which adolescent mothers are 88percent more prone to than their older counterparts. A 2003 UNFPA report focusing on Benin,Chad, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia observed that “ fistula isboth preventable and treatable and is virtually unknown in places early pregnancy is discouraged,young women are educated, family planning is accessible and skilled medical care is providedat childbirth”.

2.4.2. Economic consequences

Early marriage deprives girls of opportunities to develop themselves and consequently the opportunityto participate in the development of their community and the country. According to the PopulationReference Bureau (PRB) Factsheet on Child Marriage, “girls who marry young often drop out of school,which leaves them with few income-producing skills—a loss with grave consequences for them andtheir future families, as women who earn incomes usually invest in their families and children”9.

Because of failure to negotiate for family planning, many child brides consequently bear many childrenyet they have limited financial options. They end up depending on the men, and this exposes themto further physical abuse by these men. In some cases, the child brides get emotionally and physicallyabused by the man’s other wives and relatives as everyone fights over limited resources.The child bride’s suffering becomes even more when the husband divorces her or dies leaving herto care for the children.

2.4.3. Social consequences

According to the Girls Not Brides Partnership, child marriage “directly hinders the achievement of sixof the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the international community will not fulfilits commitments to reduce global poverty unless it tackles child marriage”10. As the foregoing hasshown, early marriage results in school dropouts thus negatively impacting on efforts to achieveuniversal primary education.

The above also illustrated how child marriage promotes a cycle of poverty, negatively impacting onthe MDG on the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. Once girls’ education has been disrupted,they can hardly make it to decision making positions compared to their male schoolmates. This means

9 Who Speaks for Me? Ending Child Marriage, Population Reference Bureau, May 2011 http://www.prb.org/pdf11/child-marriage-fact-sheet.pdf (accessed 23 November 2014)

10 Girls Not Brides, http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/what-is-the-impact/.

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11 The Hansard, Parliament of Zimbabwe, 28 January 2015

early marriage does no good to the MDG on the promotion of gender equality and empowermentof women.

As shown above, early marriage does not help much in efforts to improve maternal health and combatHIV/AIDS and other diseases. It also negatively impacts on efforts to reduce child mortality. Accordingto Girls Not Brides, when a mother is under 20, her child is 50 percent more likely to die within its firstweeks of life than a baby born to a mother in her 20s.

2.4.4 Psychosocial Effects

A 2013 Plan International unpublished report on the Situational Analysis of Child marriages in theSouthern Africa Sub region concluded that given that most girls get married to much older men,early marriage renders them susceptible to physical, emotional and sexual abuse, as well as earlywidowhood. This then results in a cycle of intergenerational poverty as child wives fail to improve thelives of their own children and the cycle continues thus for many generations to come.

Child brides also suffer from low self-esteem as they feel inferior to their peers who remain in school.The abuse they endure from their husbands and inlaws also contributes to their low self-esteem.Affected girls also suffer social exclusion as they fail to fit in with their unmarried peers while at thesame time failing to identify with both married and unmarried adult women.

2.5. Interventions in Zimbabwe

There are several interventions aimed at ending child marriages in Zimbabwe. Among them are thefollowing:-

2.5.1. Discussions in Parliament

The issue of child marriages became one of the topics to take centre stage in Parliament at thebeginning of the year 201511. One of the legislators moved a motion calling for the criminalisationof child marriages. The legislator called on government to urgently review existing legislation againstchild marriages and come up with stringent penalties against offenders. He also urged governmentto immediately come up with new legislation which parliament should then enact without delay.

The motion received a lot of support and several civil society stakeholders expressed hope that thediscussion would yield positive changes before the end of 2015.

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2.5.2. Legal Challenges

In November 2014, two women who got married as children filed a lawsuit at the Constitutional Courtchallenging the government to outlaw marriages involving 16-year-olds. In the case which was stillbefore the courts at the time of writing, the pair were seeking an order declaring that under theConstitution, no one could contract a marriage before reaching 18 years.

2.5.3. Petitions

Some civil society organisations in 2014 drafted a petition imploring the Minister of Justice, Legaland Parliamentary Affairs Emmerson Mnangagwa to amend the Marriage Act and Customary MarriagesAct to be in line with the Constitution and to support the Domestic Violence Act in making themarriage of any child under the age of 18 years illegal. At the time of writing, the organisations hadreceived just over 300 signatures from the public.

2.5.4. Safeguard Young People (SYP)

UNFPA Zimbabwe, in partnership with the Zimbabwe Youth Council and the Ministry of Health andChild Care, officially launched the SYP campaign in January 2015. Among others, the campaign isaimed at reaching young people with messages of healthy sexual and reproductive choices througha variety of platforms such as social media, art, music, entertainment, public events and live radiodiscussions.

2.5.5. Ending Child Marriages: 18+ Campaign

An initiative spearheaded by the women’s affairs ministry with the aim of reducing early and childmarriages in Zimbabwe. The major positive thing that has been done under this campaign is to holdmeetings with chiefs who have since agreed that there was need for traditional leaders to promotegood cultural values that protect children. The chiefs have called for the harmonisation of laws toeliminate the current confusion regarding the definition of who a child is. They have also spokenagainst harmful cultural practices, such as child pledging and appeasing the dead with children sayingit is the duty of traditional leaders to ensure that these were not practiced in their communities.

2.5.6. Girls Not Brides

Six Zimbabwean organisations are among the 400 civil society organisations from over 60 countrieswho form the membership of this campaign. These are Camfed, Dariko Trust, Katswe Sistahood, PadareEnkundleni – Men’s Forum on Gender, Plan Zimbabwe, Tag a Life International and the ZimbabweWomen Lawyers Association. The organisations have various programmes aimed at ending childmarriages.

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2.5.7. Plan Zimbabwe programmes

Plan Zimbabwe is among other organisations carrying out programs on child marriage in variousparts of the country. Among others, the organisation has worked with religious organisations andchiefs in a bid to help enlighten some of the influential groups of people as far as the practice of childmarriage is concerned.

2.5.8. The National Programme of Action for Children

The National Programme of Action for Children facilitates and coordinates the implementation,monitoring and evaluation of some of the requirements in the CRC and the ACRWC to ensure survival,development and protection of children. This includes child protection and security mechanisms likethe Victim Friendly Units, Victim Friendly Courts and the National Action Plan for Orphans andVulnerable Children.

2.5.9. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission

The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission promotes awareness of and respect for human rights andfreedoms at all levels of society. It also has the mandate to recommend to Parliament effectivemeasures to promote human rights and freedoms and investigate the conduct of any authority orperson, where it is alleged that any of the rights in the Declaration of Rights has been violated by thatauthority or person.

2.6 Challenges in Ending Child Marriages

2.6.1. High poverty levels

Although some people are aware of the need to discourage child marriages, they sometimes succumbto the vice because they feel they can be able to get some financial gains from the marriage throughbride prize. The parents also think marrying their children eases their children’s economic dependencefor education, health and other development needs. For example, there have been reports that girlsaged between 10 and 15 years have been forced into marriages by their parents owing to povertyat Somerby settlement near Snake Park in Harare.

2.6.2. Definition of a child

In some communities, some people believe in the physical definition of a child. To them, anyone whohas reached puberty and can do house chores and other physically challenging jobs is no longer achild and thus should start considering starting their own family. In these communities, most believethat marriage “completes” a woman. There is an unofficial view that once a woman has gone throughschool (Grade Seven in some areas) or even dropped out, the next thing should be marriage.

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2.6.3. Fragmented Legal Framework

While there are a number of legal instruments that touch on the issue of child marriage, these havebeen criticised for their failure to complement each other thus creating a fertile situation for theperpetuation of child marriages. For example, while the Constitution defines a child as anyone belowthe age of 18 years, the Marriage Act [Chapter 5:11], sets the minimum age of marriage to be 18 forboys and 16 for girls, meaning if we follow the Constitutional definition, then the latter law sanctionschild marriage for girls. Since customary law does not specify a minimum age of marriage, it has beenused as an excuse in courts to deter people from prosecutions.

2.6.4. Lack of political will

Child marriage is traditionally rooted and has potential to offend traditional leaders. This, thereforecompromises the politicians and government’s ability to push for change as it has a bearing on votes.In Zimbabwe, several high ranking politicians including President Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace andformer Vice President Joyce Mujuru, have attended gatherings of Apostolic Sects to solicit for votesbut avoided talking about child marriages even when the practice is rife within these groups.

Lack of political will can also be seen in the failure to enforce existing laws and/or failure to domesticateratified laws. Section 327 (2) (a) of the Zimbabwean Constitution says an international treaty whichhas been concluded or executed by the President or under the President’s authority does notautomatically form part of the law. Subsection (b) says the treaty has to be approved by parliamentor incorporated into law by an Act of Parliament. Zimbabwe has signed many international andregional laws which could help fight child marriages were they incorporated into the country’s legalsystem but this remains a wish as the authorities continue failing to domesticate the laws.

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CHAPTER THREE: INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL ANDDOMESTIC LAWS AND POLICIES ON CHILD MARRIAGES

A number of international conventions and other instruments prohibit early marriage which has beendescribed as a gross human rights violation. Zimbabwe has ratified several of these instrumentsalthough it is yet to domesticate them for use within the local legal system. Child rights stakeholderscontinue to advocate for the domestication of these instruments which they say could help in thecountry’s efforts to eliminate child marriage.

Below is an outline of some of these instruments:

3.1. International Instruments and how they relate to Child Marriages

3.1.1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

Zimbabwe is a signatory to various international conventions concerning human rights, includingthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, which is a milestone document in the history ofhuman rights, drafted by representatives from across the world.

The government recently partnered with the donor community to launch Shona and Ndebele versionsof the UDHR, with the aim of helping more people understand issues to do with human rights.

The UDHR includes civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights. Article 16(1) of the document states that men and women of full age are entitled to equal rights as to marriage,during marriage and at its dissolution. Article 16 (2) adds that marriage shall be entered into onlywith the free and full consent of the intending spouses. Child marriage is in contravention of theseprovisions as those affected are usually forced into the unions. Most of those who consent do so outof ignorance and it is the adults’ duty to protect them and not to take advantage of their immaturityto charge the bride price and enjoy other proceeds from the union at the expense of the child’swellbeing.

3.1.2. The Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women

(CEDAW)

Zimbabwe ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW) in 1990 Article 16 of the CEDAW speaks to equality in marriage and family life. It outlawsforced marriage and implores parties to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relatingto marriage and family life.

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Article 16 mentions that States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discriminationagainst women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall ensure,on a basis of equality of men and women:

a) The same right to enter into marriage;b) The same right to freely choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full

consent;c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters

relating to their children; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children

and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise theserights;

f ) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship andadoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation;in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;

g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a family name, aprofession and an occupation;

h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management,administration, enjoyment and disposition of property, whether free of charge or for a valuableconsideration.

2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action,including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registrationof marriages in an official registry compulsory.

If this instrument was domesticated and followed to the letter, it could be helpful for Zimbabwe toreduce child marriages, especially in cases where these marriages are forced. This law can also guidethe country in setting up a minimum marriageable age. The marriage principles outlined under Article16 of CEDAW can best be carried out by a mature person and not a child. The law can also deal withproblems being faced by those affected by early marriage. It advocates for equality in deciding onthe number and spacing of children, access to education, and property rights, all of which arecontentious areas to child brides.

3.1.3. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Zimbabwe ratified the CRC in 1991. The CRC sets out these rights in 54 articles and two OptionalProtocols. Basic human rights include the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection

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from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and sociallife. Core principles of the CRC are non-discrimination; the best interests of the child; the right to life,survival and development; and respect for the views of the child. Rights spelled out in the CRC areinherent to the human dignity and harmonious development of every child. The CRC sets standardsin health care, education, and legal, civil and social services.

• Article 3: In all actions concerning children…..the best interest of the child shall be a primaryconsideration

• Article 19: The right to protection from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse,maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parents, guardian, orany other person.

• Article 24: The right to health; access to health services; and to be protected from harmfultraditional practices

• Article 28: The right to education on the basis of equal opportunity• Article 34: The right to protection from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse• Article 36: The right to protection from all forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspect of the

child’s welfare.

When a child gets married, their access to a number of children’s rights as enshrined in the CRC iscompromised. For example, being forced into early marriage is in violation of Article 34 which advocatesfor protection against all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

3.2. Regional Instruments on Child Marriages

Like other countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), Zimbabwe ratified anumber of regional human rights instruments aimed at protecting the rights of girls and women.These include the following:

3.2.1. African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child – (ACRWC)

Zimbabwe also ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) whichprohibits child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys. The Charter defines a "child" as a humanbeing below the age of 18 years and says effective action, including legislation, should be taken tospecify the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years. It further says Party States should take appropriatemeasures to ensure that girls who get pregnant before completing their education have the opportunityto continue with their studies, based on their individual capability.

The ACRWC puts emphasis on the fact that African children require protection and special care. Itsays children are entitled to the highest available standards in education, health, safe water andsanitation, as well as to an identity, dignity, the enjoyment of the freedoms of expression, association,

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peaceful assembly, thought, religion and conscience (under their parent’s supervisory role). It aimsto safeguard the child against all forms of economic exploitation and against work that is hazardous,interferes with the child's education, or compromises his or her health or physical, social, mental,spiritual, and moral development. It calls for protection against exploitation, abuse and bad treatment,negative social and cultural practices, all forms of exploitation and sexual abuse, including commercialsexual exploitation, trafficking and illegal drug use.

Article 18 (2) States Parties to the present Charter shall take appropriate steps to ensure equality ofrights and responsibilities of spouses with regard to children during marriage and in the event of itsdissolution. In case of the dissolution, provision shall be made for the necessary protection of thechild.

Article 21 (2) Child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys shall be prohibited and effectiveaction, including legislation, shall be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be 18 yearsand make registration of all marriages in an official registry compulsory. This therefore means thatearly marriage is in conflict with the provisions of the charter.

3.2.2. SADC Protocol on Gender and Development

Zimbabwe is a signatory to the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, whose article 8 speaksto marriage and family rights, stating that state parties shall enact and adopt appropriate legislative,administrative and other measures to ensure that women and men enjoy equal rights in marriage andare regarded as equal partners in marriage. The Protocol also says that legislation on marriage shallensure that no person under the age of 18 shall marry unless otherwise specified by law which takesinto account the best interests of the child. Following are some of the clauses from the Protocol-:

Article 8 (1) State Parties shall enact and adopt appropriate legislative, administrative and othermeasures to ensure that women and men enjoy equal rights in marriage and are regarded as equalpartners in marriage. (2) Legislation on marriage shall ensure that:

a) No person under the age of 18 shall marry, unless otherwise specified by law, which takes intoaccount the best interests and welfare of the child.

b) Every marriage takes place with the free and full consent of both parties.c) Every marriage, including civil, religious, traditional or customary, is registered in accordance

with national laws andd) During the subsistence of their marriage, the parties shall have reciprocal rights and duties

towards their children with the best interests of the children always being paramount.

As shown in preceding chapters, child marriages typically involve those under the age of 18 and arehardly registered as perpetrators do their best to avoid detection and possible prosecution. Preceding

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chapters also outlined how child brides end up bearing the brunt of caring for the children resultingfrom such unions. All this is in conflict with the Protocol’s tenets outlined above.

3.2.3. Eastern and Southern Africa Ministerial Commitment on comprehensive sexuality

education and SRHR services for adolescents and young people

In 2013, Ministers of Education and Health from 21 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa gatheredin Cape Town, South Africa and made a commitment to “eliminate child marriage”. In their statement,the ministers said they recognised that: “Child marriage remains a serious obstacle to the realisationof all rights for young people, notably adolescent girls and young women, and has direct and negativeimpact on their education, health and social status”12. This recognition is important in that itacknowledges that child marriage is a bad practice that brings negative effects on those affected.It sets a good tone for improved action in dealing with the problem.

3.3 National Legal Instruments on Child Marriages

Zimbabwe has a dual legal system composed of common law (non-statutory or unwritten), LegislationCase Law (Precedent), and Customary Law. International instruments do not automatically form partof the law unless approved by parliament or incorporated into the law by an Act of Parliament.

Of the various laws the country has, there exists some which attempt to ban child marriage. However,these are very difficult to enforce as most marriages are sealed under customary law, which does notset a minimum age of marriage. The fact that these marriages are unregistered further complicatesthe situation. It means that girls continue marrying or being married off at a young age while lawenforcement agents find it difficult to identify those who are marrying children.

The passing of the country’s new Constitution in 2013 raised the minimum age of marriage to 18,offering hope for improved protection of children. Below are some of the Constitution’s marriagerelated clauses:

3.3.1 The Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe (2013)

Section 19 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe spells out various rights for children, among them parentalcare, access to appropriate education and training, and protection from maltreatment, neglect or anyform of abuse. A child is then defined under Section 81 (1) as “every boy and girl under the age ofeighteen years”. This is in line with the international and regional instruments cited above.Under Section 26, the constitution states that the State must take measures to ensure that (a) “no

12 Ministerial Commitment on comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents and youngpeople in Eastern and Southern African (ESA) http://www.scribd.com/doc/190248037/ESA-Commitment-7-December-2013 (accessedon 22 November 2014, 2240hrs)

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marriage is entered into without the free and full consent of the intending spouses”; “(b) “children arenot pledged in marriage” and (c) “there is equality of rights and obligations of spouses during marriageand at its dissolution”. This then means that marriages involving children are illegal under theconstitution as most child brides are forced into marriage by their parents or guardians, religiousleaders and those marrying them.

Section 78 of the Constitution clearly defines marriage rights, saying that (1) “Every person who hasattained the age of eighteen years has the right to found a family” and that (2) “No person may becompelled to enter marriage against their will”. These two subsections clearly outlaw child marriage.Section 81 speaks to various children’s rights, among them protection from economic and sexualexploitation.

The new constitution’s major strength regarding issues to do with child marriage is that it clearlydefines who a child is which is in line with the various international and regional laws outlined above. Also, it does not discriminate against boys and girls. As long as one is under 18 years, they are still achild whether male or female. Although it does not clearly spell out child marriage, the Constitutionoutlaws it by implication where it grants the right to marry to those who have attained 18 years.The Constitution also advocates for the protection of various children’s rights which are also protectedunder the various regional and international laws outlined above. Child marriage is therefore acontravention of the country’s Supreme Law as it denies those affected these various rights includingparental care, access to appropriate education and training, and protection from maltreatment andabuse.

3.3.1.1 Limitations of the constitution

The implementation of these constitution provisions against child marriages is weakened by theexistence of marriage laws which authorise the practice. This is the reason why child activists andlawyers have been calling for the alignment of marriage laws to the Constitution. For example, whilethe Constitution defines a child as one below 18 years, some of these conflicting laws define a childas one below 16 years meaning anyone who has attained 16 is no longer a child under that law evenif they are below the 18 years stipulated in the Supreme Law. On the other hand, while the Constitutiongrants the right to found a family to those who have attained 18 years, some of these laws authorisemarriage of 16 year olds.

3.3.2 Customary Personal Law

This is the law which is mostly affected by culture and tradition. It governs most of the matters whichtake place at family level including the upbringing of children, gender roles in the home, marriage,property ownership, custody of children; and death. The family’s elders and community leaders arethe authorities and almost all the rules are unwritten. Everything is done systematically from generation

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M E D I A B R I E F O N E N D I N G C H I L D M A R R I A G E S I N Z I M B A B W E

to generation, with a few adjustments as deemed fit by the family’s elders at that particular time. Thisis so much that it can even be well known that Family X charges so much lobola for its girls.When it comes to such matters as marriage, some of the practices are shared within a community.For example, in Zimbabwe, it is generally accepted that Ndebele speaking families residing inMatabeleland regions do not charge very much when it comes to lobola. This then becomes a sharedperception such that those intending to marry in these families can even ask for possible lobolafigures from those who already have wives from the same area. On the other hand, it is a widely heldview that Shona speaking families charge more for their girls. With this scenario, ending child marriagesthus becomes difficult because when a particular family goes through a hard time, for example hungerdue to a drought, they already know how much money or cows they can get were they to marry offone of their daughters.

3.3.2.1 Limitation of Customary Personal Law

Non-registration of customary marriages

The Registrar General’s office in 2013 said about 84 percent of the country’s marriages are unregisteredcustomary unions. When these unions are being sealed, what the two families’ elders agree on prevails.The man and woman are allowed to stay together as husband and wife after fulfilling cultural marriageceremonies like payment of lobola but without signing the legal marriage register as required by law. This is a limitation of the constitutional provision above and a loophole of created by customary law.

The Registrar General’s office has since decried this scenario, saying it has increased the number ofdivorce, property and inheritance disputes that are before the courts, with women being the biggestvictims.

3.3.3 The Customary Marriages Act (Chapter 5:07)

First enacted in January 1951, the Customary Marriages Act was last amended in 2001. Under thislaw, customary unions are registered and a man is allowed to marry more than one wife. He is alsothe legally recognised guardian to the children.

This Act says that any marriage sealed in terms of customary marriages shall not be valid unlesssolemnized by a customary marriage officer of the district in which the woman or her guardian residesin the presence of the woman’s guardian or a deputy appointed by such guardian and a witness, whoshall be the chief, headman or village-head of the guardian of the woman or such other person asthe customary marriage officer may approve. The Act goes on to spell out penalties for those whocompel women to marry without their consent.

In as far as child marriages are concerned, this law’s strength lies in its demand for registration asoffenders could be caught as they try to register their unions and also outlaws forced marriages.

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3.3.3.1 Limitation of the Customary Marriage Act

Definition and set age for marriage

The law has not set a minimum marriageable age, which makes it difficult to address child marriagesinstituted under this act. The fact that most of the unions which could fall under this Act go unregisteredbrings forth the problems outlined in 3.3.2 above.

3.3.4 The Marriage Act (Chapter 5:11)

First enacted in 1964, this Act has been amended a number of times. It states under Section 22 (1)that “No boy under the age of 18 years and no girl under the age of 16 years, shall be capable ofcontracting a valid marriage.” The Marriage Act also legalises marriage of minors provided there isconsent from guardians. Section 20 (2) (i) states that marriage of minors shall not be solemnisedwithout consent in writing of the legal guardian/guardians. The section further says that if consentcannot be obtained due to absence, inaccessibility or disability, such can be sought from a High CourtJudge. The High Court can also provide reprieve should the guardian/guardians refuse to grantconsent. This can be interpreted to mean that minors can get married as they wish as not even theirguardians, who could be their parents, have the power to stop them.

3.3.4.1 Limitations of the Marriage Act

i) Discriminatory in nature.

This clause is unjustifiably discriminatory towards boys and also clashes with the Constitutionalprovision that marriage and founding of a family is for those above 18. This law is discriminatorybetween the boy and girl child to an extent of condoning the vice as far as girls are concerned.It respects the Constitution and disregards it in one breath. Those challenging it have since saidthere is a need to revise age 16 for girls to match that of boys and thus be in line with theConstitution.

ii) Non relevance of the parental consent

The same law also says a marriage of a minor (person under 18 years old) does not become voidsimply because a guardian or High Court Judge did not consent to it. The marriage only gets setaside after being declared void by the High Court following an application within a period of sixweeks from the date of the guardian being aware of the marriage. This then means if the marriageis not set aside, it becomes valid regardless of the fact that it involves a minor and was sealedwithout consent from the guardian or a High Court Judge.

3.3.5 The Children’s Act [Chapter 5:06]

The Children’s Act provides for protection, adoption and custody of all children. This law says thatchildren have a legal right to food, shelter, clothing, medical care and supervision. It also states that

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the government’s Department of Social Welfare Services can arrange that those children who lackgood parental care be taken away from their parents/guardians to someone else who will look afterthem well. Lack of good care includes physical and emotional abuse.

The Act sets up the Children’s Court (formerly known as the Juvenile Court) to deal with matterspertaining to children. It prescribes deterrent forms of punishment for sexual offenders. The definitionof a sexual offender adopted by the Act is a wider one, including persons who, although not directlyinvolved, allow the abuse of children, either on their premises or elsewhere. It also explicitly punishesill-treatment and neglect of children and young persons.

However, this Act clashes with the Constitution in its definition of who a child is by stating that a childis “a person under the age of sixteen years".

3.3.6 The Births and Deaths Registration Act [Chapter 5:02] of 1986

The Act stipulates that births should be registered within 42 days of a child’s birth and at the latestbefore the expiry of 12 months. Thereafter, a written authority of the Registrar-General is required.The parents are responsible for the notification of birth or stillbirth and in their inability, the occupierof the house in which birth occurred, health worker, headman, witness to the birth provided theperson has attained 18 years of age or any other person having responsibility for the child.Statistics from the Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS) of 2010-11 show that the percentageof children registered stood at about 49 percent among children under five years of age. It shows thatonly about 32 percent of children born at home are registered as compared to between 54 percentand 63 percent of children born in a health facility.

3.3.6.1 Limitation of the Birth and Registration Act

Child marriages could be easily detected if the registration of both births and marriages were improved.Unfortunately, many underage girls get married off and in the absence of registration; theparents/guardians can easily inflate the child’s age and escape prosecution.

3.3.7 Domestic Violence Act [Chapter 5:16]

Passed in 2006, the law prohibits child pledging, forced and early child marriage. Under this Act, childmarriage is defined as a form of violence that can attract criminal prosecution. It has a number ofprovisions relevant for the girl child in the context of physical, sexual and mental injury. It also hasprovisions addressing harmful traditional practices such as forced virginity testing; or female genitalmutilation; or pledging of women or girls for purposes of appeasing spirits. Overall, it discourageschild marriages and encourages protection of children.

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3.3.8 Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act)

Popularly known as the Code, this Act came into effect in 2006 and under Section 92, it defines a childas one below 18 years while Section 94 prohibits extra marital intercourse with a young person (16years). The Code also prohibits acts of indecent assault against a young person, pledging of femalepersons as compensation for a debt and promising a girl under the age of 18 in marriage. Under thisAct, forcing a female to enter into marriage is a criminal offence.

3.4. National Policies

There are several policies and documents aimed at improving the protection of the rights of theZimbabwean child. Outlined below are some of them.

3.4.1. National Plan of Action (NPA) for Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC)

The main challenge that is facing children in Zimbabwe in the context of family environment is theHIV/AIDS pandemic. More than one million children under the age of 15 have been orphaned dueto AIDS. In response to this, the NPA for OVC was developed in 2003 with the aim to ensure that OVCare able to access education, food, health services, birth registration, and be protected from abuseand exploitation through coordinated efforts by government and civil society with the full participationof children. The vision of the NPA for OVC is to reach out to all orphans and other vulnerable childrenin Zimbabwe with basic services that will positively impact on their lives.

Programmes for OVC focus on psychosocial and material support, and educational and humanitarianassistance. Other programmes include children’s rights, behaviour change, youth programs, life skillstraining, caregiver training, HIV/AIDS information and health care. However, coordination of theseprogrammes remains a big challenge as they all report to their specific sector ministries.

Again, the NPA continues to be implemented with limited impact mainly due to lack of resources.However, it can not be disputed that the NPA has the potential to help address some of the driversof child marriages.

3.4.2. Education Policy

Soon after independence in 1980, Zimbabwe pursued a policy of education for all and childrenaccessed primary education free of charge despite the fact that no such provision existed in theConstitution. This practice progressed well until the country’s economy started facing challenges inthe 1990s.

The two ministries in charge of education- the Ministry of Education, Sport, Art and Culture (in chargeof pre-primary to secondary education) and the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education (responsible

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for post high school education), are among those that receive the highest government funding. Theeducation sector also receives a lot of support from the donor community.

The Education Act [Chapter 25:04] says every child in Zimbabwe is entitled to formal education andparents are obliged to send their children to a school of their choice and the Act requires school feesto be maintained at the lowest possible levels.

There was also once a vibrant second chance education policy whereby even adults attended nightschool. The Government also set up a number of tertiary institutions to ensure that higher educationis accessible to as many children as possible.

These measures could go a long way in addressing child marriages as children would spend most oftheir time at school concentrating on their studies. However, while tuition fees in government schoolshave generally been very low, development levies have been unaffordable to many, thus contributingto high levels of dropouts in some areas, especially in rural communities. High costs of books anduniforms have led to high drop outs in rural areas.

3.4.3. The National Health Strategy

The NHS addresses issues on equity and quality of health across all ages and the location of mosthealth facilities within 5km-8km radius is in accordance with the Primary Health Care Principles. Thereare policies in place that intend to ensure that people (especially persons below 5 and above 65 years)who cannot afford to pay in public hospitals are given free medical treatment. These target childrenwhose parents are not working, orphaned children, the elderly and those affected by HIV/AIDS.Beneficiaries are given free medical Treatment Orders to present to the Hospitals that receive themoney from the department of Social Welfare.

The country has a National HIV/ AIDS Strategic Framework which includes Prevention of Mother toChild Transmission. The National AIDS Coordinating Programme as well as the National AIDS Council(NAC) which is established under the National AIDS Council of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 15:14] areexamples of responses by the Government in order to address the HIV/AIDS challenge in the country.Those on Anti-Retroviral Treatment are given free drugs.

In addition the Social Welfare Assistance Act [Chapter 17:06] provides for health and educationassistance, maintenance allowances and cash transfers among others.

Such health interventions could help deal with the health related effects of child marriage. Again,these interventions have a potential to reduce the cost of caring for children thus making it easierfor parents to care for their children instead of opting to marry them off. However, like most policies,

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these health interventions are being implemented piecemeal, mainly due to lack of funding and lackof buy-in by some institutions.

3.4.4. Gender Policy

The Gender Policy seeks to eradicate gender discrimination and inequalities in all spheres of life anddevelopment. Child marriage is one practice that clearly exposes the high levels of discriminationand inequalities in Zimbabwe, as more girls than boys are subjected to this practice. The GenderPolicy makes specific mention of early marriage as one of the causes of school dropouts.

3.4.5. National Plans of Action e.g ZIMASSET

Although not designed to address child marriage, national plans of action like the Zimbabwe Agendafor Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation are aimed at improving the social and economicstatus of Zimbabweans. Most of the drivers of child marriage are linked to poverty and the economicstatus of the majority of Zimbabweans. Therefore the successful implementation of these nationalplans of actions has a potential of reducing poverty, and thereby limiting exposure to the drivers ofchild marriage.

3.4.6. Social Protection Programmes

Zimbabwe has a number of social protection programmes that are designed to help children accessservices like education and health. One such programme is the Basic Education Assistance Module(BEAM), which provides financial support to less privileged children. Although BEAM is not designedto address child marriage and related issues, it enables many young people to go to school, wherethey are to some extent shielded from some of the drivers of child marriage.

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CHAPTER FOUR: ADVOCACY TO END CHILD MARRIAGES

4.1. Introduction

In order to end the challenges presented by child marriages, it is necessary for different stakeholdersto work together in advocating for the creation of a conducive environment where child marriagecannot thrive.

There is a need for all stakeholders in the society to take measures to address the drivers of childmarriages which include social, economic, cultural and religious factors that influence norms andbehaviors at the individual, community and societal levels. Below is a brief discussion on how threecrucial groups of society can influence effective programming, legal and policy interventions toprevent child marriage.

The key allies identified for this media brief are traditional authorities, the community, and the media. In order to address and end the challenge of child marriages in Zimbabwe, different stakeholdershave a role to play.

4.2. Role of the Community

Dictionary.com defines a community as “a group of people having cultural, religious, ethnic, or otherinterests and characteristics in common… a group of people living in one locality, the general public”.The following are measures communities can employ to end child marriage:

i) Education - Keeping children in school has been cited as the most effective solution for earlymarriage. Communities need to develop and encourage the culture of educating its children.Various measures could be employed to help the less fortunate for example applying forgovernment funding and adopting friendly/collapsed tuition payment terms whereby parentssettle the fees over time. Religious groups who are opposed to education could be negotiatedwith slowly until they are convinced.

ii) Community discussions – bring together adolescent girls and boys to share their experiencesand encourage them to become advocates for change. Dialogue between youth groups andlocal community leaders or government officials on the issues that affect young people couldalso help.

iii) Adult guidance - lack of parental guidance has been cited as one of the drivers. Traditionally,a child belongs to the community. Adults in the community should therefore give guidance toall the community’s children, especially orphans and those who do not stay with adult guardians.

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iv) Value girls – Communities need to start accepting that all children are equal; and both girls andboys have equal potential to excel in life and make their parents proud if given adequate support.Girls also need to be given more power over their destiny by being allowed to make their owndecisions

v) Educate men and boys – These should be assisted to change their perceptions and attitudestowards girls and women. They also need to be taught morals and values which will make themdifferentiate between a child looking up to them for protection and a potential wife.

4.3. Role of Traditional Leaders

As the custodians of culture and customary law, traditional leaders can play the following roles:

i) Ensuring fair justice delivery – In their administration of local justice, traditional leaders canensure that their subjects do not violate children’s rights by presiding over cases and makingsure that offenders are punished.

ii) Facilitating community education on child marriage – This can be done through allowingcivil society organisations to hold meetings and workshops in their areas. As opinion leaders,traditional authorities have a lot of room to influence awareness creation and communityparticipation in addressing child marriage.

iii) Incentives for guardians, community members – Traditional leaders can also facilitate theprovision of incentives to dissuade guardians from seeing child marriage as an option for examplefacilitating food for work programmes.

iv) Cultural transformation – Traditional leaders can spearhead the abolishment of some culturalpractices which encourage child marriages in their communities.

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CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1. Conclusion

Although Zimbabwe has a number of systems and statutes to prevent child marriage, it is importantto note that to a large extent, the same instruments also promote the practice.

Child marriage has a negative impact on the development of the child. This therefore presents achallenge on different stakeholders to play their role to create a better environment for children.

5.2. Recommendations

The success of Zimbabwe’s efforts to curb child marriages requires the collaboration of and betweendifferent stakeholders and the media.

To this end, the following could be done:

1. Strengthening of the media capacity to interpret and analyse different legal instruments:

As explained elsewhere in this brief, a number of the legal provisions that seek to curb childmarriages actually promote the practice. Unfortunately, the journalists who report on the issueshave limited capacity to interpret and draw the line, and this increases the chances of themmisrepresenting some provisions. It is recommended that stakeholders with a strong legalstanding should consider regular sensitization for the media.

2. Development of Frameworks to improve media access to information: Feedback from themedia stakeholders shows that the current poor coverage of issues to do with child marriagesis to a large extent due to limited access to information on the subject. It is therefore recommendedthat different stakeholders should consider developing frameworks or platforms to facilitate theflow of information between them and the media.

3. Research and content analysis: To address the current information gaps, there is need toconduct research to generate evidence that can inform the media’s coverage, and to conductcontent analysis to identify areas that need improvement.

4. Incentives: The media do not need newsmakers to pay them to cover stories despite thevarious limitations they face in the course of their work. However, things like fellowships andsponsoring the best child reporter/child marriage reporter could help motivate them to do theirbest in covering the stories. Some media houses have also come to accept that they can circumventsuch things as transport challenges by allowing their staff to go on field trips with organisationsprovided the organisations will not attempt to detect the way the story has to be written.

29

REFERENCES

1. Marrying Too Young, UNFPA, 2012

2. Situation analysis on adolescent girls, Plan Zimbabwe, 2011

3. Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTATS), Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator MonitoringSurvey (MIMS) 2009 report

4. Let them Grow First: Early Marriage in Goromonzi, Zimbabwe, Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU),2014

5. 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2014, MICS (Key Findings Report), UNFPA/ZimStat, 2014

6. UNICEF (2006). Child Protection Information Sheet: Child Marriage, UNICEF, New York. p.1.

7. Who Speaks for Me? Ending Child Marriage, Population Reference Bureau, May 2011http://www.prb.org/pdf11/child-marriage-fact-sheet.pdf (accessed 23 November 2014)

8. Girls Not Brides, http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/what-is-the-impact

9. The Hansard, Parliament of Zimbabwe, 28 January 2015

10. Ministerial Commitment on comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductivehealth services for adolescents and young people in Eastern and Southern African (ESA)http://www.scribd.com/doc/190248037/ESA-Commitment-7-December-2013 (accessed on22 November 2014, 2240hrs)

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