Since 2006, marrying a child below the age of 18 has been a crime, but lax enforcement has seen the illegal unions continue, particularly in rural Zimbabwe. According to UNICEF currently 31 percent of percent of Zimbabwean girls are married off before their eighteenth birthday. But there is now a renewed push to clamp down. In January, the constitutional court reaffirmed the 2006 Law when it passed a judgment that criminalized child marriages including in customary arrangements.
Parliamentarians will extend the law to prosecute parents who sanction the marriage of under age children.
“It’s a good thing that we are now finally moving towards implementing the protection of children from marriages, in fact not just from marriages from child sexual abuse that comes under the guise of marriage.” said Hon. Jessie Majome, Member of Parliament
Because of their age, child brides are subjugated and abused with often dire circumstances, as in the case of Nickla, who was married at age fourteen. She says her husband denies her food. The marriage has changed her life for the worse.
“I didn’t have HIV when I got married but when I gave birth to my child I was diagnosed positive. My life is hard…I just wish I could get some contraceptive tablets so I can prevent another pregnancy because I cant have another child as hard as things are.” said Nickla, Child Bride
Orphaned as a child she saw marriage as an escape from the Spartan existence under the care of relatives. Three years on she regrets the decision.
“I wish that young girls to strive to find jobs instead of getting married early. I wish I could find a job and take care of my child.” Said Nickla
And that’s why activists say more needs to be done beyond the stiff jail sentences to completely stop child marriages.
Many in Zimbabwe face economic hardships, which have been blamed for fueling the unlawful marriages.
