By Pretty Chavango.
(News Of The South) – UNICEF and the UK on Wednesday co-hosted the first girl summit aimed at mobilising domestic and international efforts to implement an end to child early forced marriages (CEFM) as well as female genital mutilation (FGM).
Running under the banner “Girl summit 2014, a future free from FGM and child forced marriages”, it was set to challenge existing barriers against women and girl’s freedom and right to a life free from violence and discrimination.
International centre for research on women predicts that if present trends continue 142 million girls will marry before their 18th birthday over the next decade, that is 38 000 girls married every day for the next 10 years. in Zimbabwe according to Zimbabwe National Statistics agency (Zimstat) 31% of girls are married before age 18, a lot of risk being attached to such amongst them maternal deaths as well as obestric fistula (a medical condition caused by prolonged obstructed labour).
2013 Saw Zimbabwe’s rating in terms of under aged brides move from position 21 in 2012, to position 27 such startling figures have seen to urgent calls from civil society and non-governmental organisations alike protesting against this social ill, amongst these Women Empowerment Foundation Scribes Africa (WEFSA) Tag a Life International (TaLI) Katswe sisterhood amongst others.
A research done by Research Advocacy Unit showed that religion and culture are seemingly intertwined as the root cause of child marriages, however one has to argue with the terming of such union as a marriage, for society to be able to identify what child marriage is one first has to understand what is a child and what is marriage, our constitution defines a child as “every boy and girl under the age of eighteen” the children’s Act(Act 14 of 2002)[chapter 5:02] conflicts this by defining a child as a person who has reached the age of sixteen, Marriage is defined by sec 81(1) amendment No 20 Act of 2013 ) as a consensual union between a man and woman who have reached 18 thus 18 being the legal age of majority in Zimbabwe.
Many girls have dropped out of school to marry elderly men either as part of tradition or religion, parents are seen at the forefront fuelling child marriages as victims of sexual abuse are married off to their rapists as a form of compensation, these girls are sometimes as young as 9 years old yet these unions are still referred to as marriages despite the definition of marriage clearly ruling out such you then wonder, why sugar-coat it? Why not name it for the child rape it is, for such union is rape as the child is not mature enough to consent to marriage or sexual relations, why label it child marriage when the legal age for marriage barres children from entering it, it is child rape and should be treated as such. WEFSA CEO Edinah Masanga challenged the media to bring out the real issues affecting society, “let’s not usurp the real issues that affect our society, because child marriage is real “, she said.
Statistics published by Tag a life International show that 53 children in Chiredzi alone were raped last year increasing the number from 41 in 2012, victims ranging from as young as two months old to 16 years, with fathers, close relatives, teachers, pastors, herd boys amongst the list of those pointed as perpetrators such brutality is incomprehensible, every individual is tasked with the vital duty of creating an environment where young girls are free to be at their best, National co-ordinator at Woman and Law Silvia Chirawu reiterates “as long as, we don’t get angry about it we are not going anywhere “, society must be actively resistant to such deviancy lets break the silence #because together we achieve so much.
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