adminZimbabwe commemorated the Day of the African Child and officially opened the 23rd session of the Children’s Parliament at Parliament Building yesterday.
The Zimbabwe Youth Council, Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment and Child Parliamentarians came together for the commemorations which were held under the theme “25 Years after the Adoption of the African Children’s Charter: Accelerating our Collective Efforts to End Child Marriages in Africa”.
The theme contradicts Prosecutor General Johannes Tomana’s recent remarks.
Speaking in Bulawayo, he said girls as young as 12 are capable of consenting to sex and therefore the courts must listen to them if they wish to start families with older men.
Zimbabwe’s age of consent is 16 years.
The United Nations defines early marriages as any union with a child that is less than 18 years old. Both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women outlaw child marriage.
The World Health Organisation estimates that globally, 39 000 children are married every day.
This entails that 140 million girls will marry before they are 18, while about 50 million will marry under the age of 15 by the year 2020.
Furthermore, the UNFPA report “Marrying too Young”, indicates that girls that reside in rural and remote areas are likely to marry before the age of 18.
Girls in poor households and the least educated girls are likely to marry before they reach 18 years.
Basing on the UNICEF Global Database, Zimbabwe is ranked 41 on the number of countries where children marry before turning 18.
The Demographic Health Survey estimated that 31 percentage of the girls in Zimbabwe marry before they reach the age of 18 and about 15 percentage of these girls are married before they turn 15.
In Zimbabwe it is alleged that child marriages are most prevalent among the Apostolic Sects.
Early marriages that start at the age of 12 years take different paths and are a combination of several factors. For example, this can include girls being chased away for coming back home late or simply being seen with a boyfriend. More common cases are due to traditional rites (kuromba) or traditional schools for girls.
Early marriages are accompanied by other vulnerabilities such as exposure of HIV, rape and deliberate transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.
In general, early marriages fit within the broader societal views of the girl child.
They can be used for patriarchal or family purposes without regard for their choices. Early marriages are usually linked to rape but it often goes unreported in order to protect the perpetrators.
Whilst we are able to enumerate the incidences of early marriages, the problem is deeply attitudinal or perceptual. Therefore, there is need to target these attitudes and beliefs about woman and children in order to safeguard the rights of children, in particular the treatment of the girl child.
A research conducted at the beginning of the year by Zimbabwe Youth Council and UNICEF indicated that early marriages were reportedly common in the Mwenezi area. Most young girls are married to South Africa returnees or married off due to religious practices.
It was reported that the majority of the children leave the house without parental consent. Culturally, once they leave the house they will not be reintegrated into either the family or in schools.
Furthermore it was noted that early marriages occur in a social context that often shares a different set of norms and values.
Some religious sects do not allow their members to visit clinics.
This was particularly challenging for young women that might require specialized medical attention during labour, leading to maternal deaths.
As we commemorate this important day, we need to thank the Government of Zimbabwe for protecting the rights of the girl and boy child although the Prosecutor General did not see any harm on early marriages.
Zimbabwe and Africa as whole has laws and policies that protect the girl child. These include the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child which was adopted by the African Union in 1990 and was entered into force in 1999. The Charter covers civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Article 21 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child makes specific references to harmful social and cultural practices.
It says that states that subscribe to the present Charter shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate harmful social and cultural practices affecting the welfare, dignity, normal growth and development of the child. It further states that child marriages and the betrothal of girls and boys shall be prohibited and effective action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years and make registration of all marriages in an official registry compulsory.
In the Zimbabwe context, we have the Children’s Act (Chapter 5:06), the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 and the Domestic Violence Act (Chapter 5:16). These Acts deal with the rights and welfare of the children in Zimbabwe. In addition, the constitution of Zimbabwe also provides for the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms for all Zimbabwean, children included.
In addition, the Government of Zimbabwe is a state party to a number of international and regional instruments that protect the rights of children. Therefore, the Constitution of Zimbabwe should be read in conjunction with the following:
◆ United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the sale of children.
◆ Child prostitution and Child Pornography, the African Charter on the rights and Welfare of the Child
◆ Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women
The Child Protection and adoption Act of 2001 also stipulate the respective guidelines for the protection of children in Zimbabwe.
Because of these early marriages, there is need to harmonize marriage laws in order to make it easy to prosecute offenders.
The Constitution defines children as persons below the age of 18 years. However, the Customary Act is silent about marriage issues and this makes it difficult to handle child marriages.
◆ Tanzikwa Guranungo is Public Relations Manager for Zimbabwe Youth Council.
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