Andrew
In September, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) launched an investigation into allegations of institutionalised sexual abuse and child marriages in apostolic sects. The probe followed widespread outrage after the death of 14-year-old Anna Machaya while giving birth at a Johanne Marange Apostolic Sect shrine in Marange in August. The Sunday Mail’s Tanyaradzwa Rusike (TR) spoke to ZGC chief executive officer Mrs Virginia Muwanigwa (VM) on the probe.
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TR: What has your investigation into the alleged prevalence of harmful practices in some apostolic sects uncovered so far?
VM: On September 24, we published a notice in the Government Gazette and national newspapers inviting members of the public to make submissions to the commission on any information they might have with regards to the institutionalisation of child marriages and other cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of young girls within the apostolic sects.
This statutory process was preceded by processes and work on child marriages, including an inquiry targeted at the Johanne Marange Apostolic sect as a reaction to the case of Anna Machaya.
From our preliminary inquiry on the Marange establishment, we made the following observations which are believed to apply to other sects:
◆ Strict adherence to the literal interpretation of the Holy Bible places women as people of lower standing to men insofar as religious processes and rites are concerned. Women have no right to address the church gathering and cannot occupy leadership positions. It is this ideology that breeds various other gender rights violations.
◆ The sect is closed to the outside world. Only parishioners are privy to the church rites and protocols. The members are highly indoctrinated and do not reveal the information to outsiders.
◆ The existence of several other practices outside child marriages severely impairs the dignity of women and young girls, including, but not limited to, compulsory virginity testing, betrothal, pledging, forced marriages and denying women access to education and sexual and reproductive health rights.
The identified rights violations are rooted in the sect members’ beliefs, doctrines and ideology.
At the policy level, the church leadership has expressed interest in abiding by the laws of the country, and the leader has on many occasions denounced child marriages.
However, despite this pronouncement, there is dissonance as the practice still persists unabated.
There are positives especially emanating from the fact that the church has always been willing and available to support Government programmes.
That attitude of partnership and collaboration with the Government is the key entry point that becomes handy as we try to assist them in the process of change.
A church that values c-ooperation with the Government is surely capable of reforming itself in line with the laws of the land.
TR: What prompted this investigation?
VM: We are mainly informed by our mandate as follows:
ZGC is one of the five independent commissions established in terms of Section 245 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and operationalised through the Zimbabwe Gender Commission Act [Chapter 10:31], with the overall mandate of monitoring and ensuring implementation of gender equality provisions in the Constitution.
In terms of the ZGC Act, we are further mandated to investigate systematic barriers prejudicial to gender equality or gender mainstreaming.
A systemic barrier means any barrier, practice, custom, law or other impediments prejudicial to the achievement of gender equality or gender mainstreaming.
The institutionalisation of sexual exploitation and abuse of women and child marriages constitute a major barrier to the realisation of full gender equality.
The harmful effects of child marriages include inhibiting the child’s potential and exposing them to GBV (gender-based violence) and STIs (sexually transmitted infections).
The commission has over the past years been seized with the matters surrounding harmful practices — cultural or religious — which perpetuate sexual exploitation and abuse of women and children as part of its broader mandate.
The investigation is not limited to Marange as a church, nor the parties involved in the Anna Machaya case.
TR: Has the commission ever done an investigation of this nature before and what were your findings?
VM: The commission undertook similar investigations in other branches of the apostolic sect in the Marondera area in 2020.
The findings were parallel to the Johanne Marange apostolic sect in that child marriages are a common practice within that sect and it happens to young girls from between the age of 10 to 15-years-old.
There is a prevalence of a custom known as mabondwe, which refers to a practice whereby young girls are invited to stay with senior male member as wives-in-waiting.
The invitation is usually extended by senior wives, whereby they invite young female relatives to buttress their position in the polygamous family and outwit other senior wives.
The young girls are taken care of until a time they are deemed ready to be adopted as wives.
In most instances, they are adopted at puberty, which is usually before the statutory age of consent to sexual intercourse or the age of marriage.
There is also a prevalence of other harmful practices like wife pledging, betrothal and compulsory virginity testing.
During their ceremonies, girls who fail the virginity testing are married off to willing suitors who are usually very senior male, elderly members of the church.
The marrying off is something akin to trading commodities whereby they would be hounded and displayed for viewing to male members.
The extent of the indoctrination is beyond imagination.
TR: Will this probe also extend to other religious organisations where abuse is reportedly prevalent?
VM: The investigation by the commission is an invitation to the public to make submissions on issues of child marriages, especially within apostolic sects.
Secondary information gained so far points to the existence of rampant child marriages in the apostolic sect.
We, however, want to make it categorically clear that the practice is not peculiar to the Marange sect, as several other religious denominations — indigenous and non-indigenous — have rites and practises that breed child marriages and or forced marriages.
It is also important to note that the practice has also surged even outside the faith-based sector.
Covid-19 pandemic and the socio-economic situation has worsened the situation in a big way.
Child marriages have become so common in the Marange area that even those who are not followers of Johanne Marange Church are now practising the harmful cultural practice; as such, the probe will extend to other religious organisations where allegations of abuse have surfaced.
TR: On the legislative front, what does the ZGC recommend to authorities to ensure that such practices are punished accordingly?
VM: The ZGC has made several recommendations to the Parliament of Zimbabwe, including, but not limited to, addressing the current contradictions in the legislative regime regarding marriages of young persons, sexual intercourse with minors and harmonisation of the customary and civil marriages.
Currently, there is no harmony between the Marriages Act, Domestic Violence Act and Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. ZGC has also urged the Government to expedite the alignment of laws with the Constitution.
Lobbying for the minimum mandatory sentence to be put in place as a deterrent measure to abuse of women and girls and urging stakeholders to denounce the practice and boldly call it rape.
Online Reporter