Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that marriage before the age of 18 is illegal.
This is a development that has been described as a victory in the campaign for gender equality and it also means that sections of Zimbabwe’s Marriage Act are rendered unconstitutional.
The unprecedented ruling by the court followed an application by two women, Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi, who sought to have the legal age of marriage moved to 18 for both men and women.
The two young women were just girls when they were married and gave birth for the first time.
Ruvimbo Tsopodzi, now 20, was 15 when she had to get married. She was forced to leave the marriage and return to her parents’ home after suffering emotional and physical abuse, she told the court in a signed affidavit.
“My life is hell at the moment and cannot be wished on anyone else,” Tsopodzi’s testimony said.
“Raising a child when you are a child yourself is excruciating and painful,” said Loveness Mudzuru, who was also married at 15, and had two children by the age of 19.
The landmark court case was spearheaded by former Finance minister Tendai Biti, now an independent practising lawyer. It generated much interest among activists across the country who have pinned their hopes on eradicating child marriages
“It is a great day for women and the girl child,” said Tendai Biti, the lawyer who represented the two women. “Parliament should now legislate for tougher jail sentences.”
Part of the ruling says: “No person, male or female, in Zimbabwe may enter into any marriage, including an unregistered customary law union or any other union, including one arising out of religion or a religious rite, before attaining the age of 18.”
“The progressive decision is a mark that the Zimbabwe Constitutional Court is building up a body of constitutional jurisprudence which will also be quoted in other jurisdictions and should assist the Africa-wide campaign against child marriage,” Veritas said in a statement after the Court ruling.
Veritas, a non-governmental organisation that monitors parliamentary activities, said the ruling was a major milestone in Zimbabwe’s legal history.
Zimbabwe has a high number of child brides through marriages contracted under customary norms. Such underage marriages are also common among religious sects.
A third of Zimbabwean women aged 20 to 49 told the Zimbabwe’s National Statistics Agency that they married before the age of 18, a Human Rights Watch report said in November last year. Girls as young as 12 were married off due to poverty or religious and customary practices, the group said.
Sometimes children are married off supposedly to appease “avenging spirits” in some local traditions.
According to reports, 31 per cent of girls in Zimbabwe are married before they reach 18 years.
Other reasons for child marriages include poverty in a country where only 11 per cent of the population is gainfully employed.
Malawi’s parliament also recently passed a law that makes it illegal for people to marry before the age of 18.
Similar legal interventions are being discussed in Zambia where child marriages are prevalent.
