Online Reporter
Obey Musiwa
Herald Reporter
THE Government has launched a report on the entrenched practice of child marriages, which shows that 33,9 percent of girls are married before the age of 18 and 5 percent are in marriages before their 15th birthday.
The report was produced by the National Gender Based Violence Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue after it analysed laws and policies in place to protect and support survivors of child marriages with a special focus on equity during an overview in Epworth, Harare.
Conducted in October 2024 with updates in February 2025, the study utilised a qualitative approach, engaging stakeholders, victims and survivors through purposive sampling with key findings such as prosecution and counterproductive efforts against child marriage.
Speaking at the launch held in Harare today, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Dr Mavis Sibanda, described child marriages as a form of “chronic juvenile rape disguised as child marriage”.
Dr Sibanda said child marriage explicitly indicates unequal power dynamics in Zimbabwe.
“This disparity has implications for education, employment opportunities and access to productive resources with girls trailing behind boys in all these facets,” she said.
“This perpetuates an inter-generational cycle of poverty, limiting their access to education and leadership, unfortunately, few manage to come out of these marriages.”
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chairperson Ms Fungayi Jessie Majome, who attended the launch, said her commission has received over 1 200 human rights complaints in 2024 involving GBV.
“Our efforts will continue to link to the national gender-based violence strategy and the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS) because chronic juvenile rape disguised as child marriage is an obstacle, not an asset,” she said.
“We will not achieve our goals as a nation of becoming an upper-middle-class economy by 2030 if our children and our girls are being raped in broad daylight under the guise of what is called child marriage.”
Ms Majome added that Section 52 of the Constitution guarantees the right for girls to make decisions concerning their reproductive health.
“This right is clearly violated by this form of devil and Section 81, the rights of children, which is the best interest of the child, is clearly violated by this heinous practice.
“The Government’s commitment to addressing GBV through legislation, policy, and community engagement is essential as I argue a collective action to prevent child (rape) and support survivors.”
Zimbabwe Gender Commission chairperson Ms Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe said GBV is a cancer that needs to be defeated.
“This important gathering underscores our collective commitment in amplifying the voices against GBV and the urgent need to address the issue of child rape,” she said.
“The Government of Zimbabwe recognises that GBV and child rape are fundamental violations of human rights and has implemented measures to prevent and address GBV through robust policy and legal frameworks.”
