Too young to get married

“After my mother passed away I was left in the custody of my maternal aunt who I stayed with at a farm along Shamva Road. Life was difficult.
“At times I would go for days without food as my aunt’s meagre farm salary was not enough. I often had to fend for myself,” she narrated.

As fate would have it, during her usual search for food, she was helped by a seemingly Good Samaritan who would buy her food and at times give her money.
Magumise did not see beyond the facade of the “Good Samaritan” who later impregnated her taking her in as a wife.

They were to stay along Shamva Road just after Enterprise Country Club with his mother and she settled in “well” or so it seemed.
Just a few weeks after being married, another woman eloped to the same homestead claiming to be pregnant and that Magumise’s ‘husband’ was responsible.
As young as she was Magumise had no choice but stay in a polygamous marriage. Speaking out would result in her being sent to her “poverty stricken home”.

She was taken to Pfungwe where she stayed and did duties that include herding cattle.
“Life in Pfungwe was horror and even my father-in-law whom I was staying with felt that I deserved better treatment than that.

“I would be sick for days but my father-in-law was poor and could not afford to take me to the clinic,” Magumise said while sobbing.
As fate would have it she had a miscarriage a few weeks later. She did not go to any doctor or hospital for dilatation and curettage and she continued with life as normal.
As the first wife, she had to act normal and responsibly so as to stay in good books with her husband.

She had no knowledge about family planning and fell pregnant again. Her husband was “happy” as she was finally going to give him the child he longed for.
The pregnancy again aborted in the first trimester and she again went through labour pains alone until the ordeal was over.

Magumise finally gave up and left Pfungwe and went to live with her aunt who had moved to Acturus.
Life was also not rosy in her new home and she found herself looking for a job around farms.
She was later got a job in Glen Lorne after lying that she was 18 years old.

While there it was also discovered that she was pregnant again but she refused to disclose who was responsible for it.
“I was very shocked to learn that people can be so cruel to the extent of marrying a young girl as young as 13. The girl does not want to open up about her ordeals and experiences.

“Maybe she is afraid that if the truth comes out she might lose her job and go back to her life of hunger and sadness. I am still keeping her at my house hoping that one day she will get help and be able to have a normal life like all the other girls of her age,” said the employer who refused to be named.

She added that the girl is hardworking but very shy and reserved and because she was abused at such an age she is not very confident of what she does.
Stories of parents and guardians who marry off young girls for money, riches and at times rituals have been a growing concern in recent days.

Recently a 73-year-old man from Dombodema in Plumtree allegedly married off his 14-year-old granddaughter on the arrangement that he would be given monthly groceries.
The girl was a couple months pregnant when the story broke and the neighbours alerted the grandfather.

Instead of reporting the case to the police the grandfather called for a meeting with the man responsible and ordered him to marry the girl or face arrest.
The agreement was that the man would pay the grandfather monthly groceries. Many such stories have been reported in recent times and on many occasions the juveniles are forced into marriages.

Sadly, the girls suffer in silence while the perpetrators of these crimes move on with their lives.
Society has also turned a blind eye on these marriages with some even blessing the unions.

Most of these girls usually experience pregnancy complications and in most cases risk suffering terminal illnesses such as cervical cancer, STIs and HIV and Aids.
Girl Child Network Director, Edna Masanga said they have vowed to help the girl child until the so called husband has been brought to book.

“The fact that she is only 14 the man liable to statutory rape and to make matters worse he has harassed her and enslaved her at his rural home,” said Masanga.
She added that early marriages have become a scourge in this country especially in the poorer communities.

Many parents who live in rural and farming areas cannot afford paying school fees for all their children thus making early marriages an option.
“I think as a country we need a holistic approach to curb this problem because girls are being held hostage in marriages and kept as sex slaves.

“Girl Child Network has helped so many girls in similar situations. We have helped them fight their battles for freedom and empowered them,” she said.
Many other human rights organisations also echoed the same sentiments but vowed to continue educating all Zimbabwean that there is more to a girl child’s life than marriages.
According to Marrying too Young: End Child Marriage, a new report released by United Nations Population Fund, on the inaugural International Day of the Girl Child, if current trends continue,

the number of girl child marriages will increase dramatically over the next 10 years.
The report also states that, despite laws to prevent its practice, child marriage has remained mostly constant in developing countries over the past decade, thus 142 million girls could be married before the age of 18 in the next 10 years if current trends continue.

“No social, cultural or religious rationale for child marriage can possibly justify the damage these marriages do to young girls and their potential,” said UNFPA Executive Director, Dr Babatunde Osotimehin.

In 2010, 158 countries reported that 18 years was the minimum legal age for marriage for women without parental consent or approval by a pertinent authority. Still, in 2010, one in three girls, or 67 million girls, were married before their 18th birthday in developing countries (excluding China).

Half of these child marriages took place in Asia, with another one fifth in sub-Saharan Africa. But the practice is also widespread in some communities in Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Progress has been made, and the report finds that child marriage has declined in some developing countries, including Armenia, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Nepal, among others.
“Child marriage is an appaling violation of human rights and robs girls of their education, health and long-term prospects,” said Dr. Osotimehin.

“Marriage for girls can lead to complications of pregnancy and childbirth — the main causes of death among 15-19-year-old girls in developing countries.”
The reports adds that girls who are poor, have little or no education and live in rural areas are most likely to marry or enter child marriages. Girls living in rural areas of the developing world are twice as likely to enter marriage before 18 as their urban counterparts, and girls with no education are over three times more likely to do so than those with secondary or higher education.

Girls’ vulnerability to child marriage substantially increases during humanitarian crises.
The report calls on governments and leaders to end child marriage by enacting and enforcing national laws that raise the age of marriage to 18, for both girls and boys, using data to identify and target geographic “hotspots” areas with high proportions and numbers of girls at risk of child marriage.

The report also seeks to expand prevention programmes that empower girls at risk of child marriage and address the root causes underlying the practice and mitigating the harmful impact of child marriage on girls.