We can all do better for the girl child

Tadiwanashe Mavetera R.E

Youth Interactive Writer

The rights of the girl child have been seriously neglected particularly in our proud nation and more needs to be done to protect her. 

The infringement of the girl child’s rights has been on the rise recently in Zimbabwe.

In fact, the infringement of girls rights is particularly rising due to religious practices which disregard the worth as well as the rights of the girl child. The main children’s right which the girl child is being deprived of, is the right to freedom of marriage as well as freedom from child marriages especially in some religious sect swithin the country.

This then promotes situations where a man claims a young girl as his wife under the pretence that it is some sort of spiritual revelation or enlightenment . Having the particular young girl as his wife or his bride is seriously infringing upon the girl child’s rights The child marriages which the girls are being forcefully involved in, totally strip away the girls aspirations and ambitions in the sense that, upon being married it’s a she is impregnated within a short period of time. 

Due to this, she will then have to fulfill her motherly obligations through taking care of her baby as well as attending to her so-called “husband “ who will have married her at a very tender age, which is below the age of consent prescribed by the constitution.

There is also the issue of how  the girl child is robbed of her formal education in such cases.  

This then leaves her in a state of ignorance regarding her rights. 

It seems that despite all the efforts put in place all over the world in order to empower women and the girl child,  there are places where the girl child is still being neglected, as well as being undermined because of her gender. In some cases, she is even treated as an object to be traded off as a means to get food for her family.

Many a time, the girl child is exploited in the name of religious practices, while in actual fact she is being molested, raped given into marriage below the age of consent to marriage and in extreme cases, girls sometimes are used as sacrifices for various cults. This truly is a disheartening matter that should be addressed immediately.

It truly is awful if we as Zimbabweans simply look at such atrocities and do not act. We can do better.  We should have a love for the girl child and empower her to fulfill her dreams and to achieve her goals and ambitions rather than manipulate her future through using her and abusing her in the name of religious practices or social norms and values which undermine the girl child. 

There should also be laws that will protect the rights of the girl and children’s rights at large. 

Individuals who infringe the rights of children particularly the rights of the girl child should be imprisoned . By so doing , I believe we will be minimising the amount of perpetrators or individuals who would wish to abuse the girl child.

Society can actually be taught the value of these rights.

This can be done through our awareness campaigns as well as education seminars for community leaders and religious leaders on the importance of children’s rights particularly those of the girl child which are often undermined. 

Only then can we achieve the state of true equality within our nation since we note that the seed of gender inequality is first planted when people are still children. What we need to do is  just work together for a better Zimbabwe.