MOTION

CRIMINALISATION OF CHILD MARRIAGES

MR. MAONDERA:
I move the motion standing in my name that this House:
EXTREMELY worried by child marriages in Zimbabwe;
DISTURBED by lack of education to communities on how heinous
child marriages are and how they destroy the childrens future;
ALARMED by the Governments lack of action on the ground to
eradicate the scourge of child marriages in Zimbabwe;
SADDENED by the lack of legislation, which criminalizes these child
marriages or lack of stringent penalties for the perpetrators of such
heinous practice;
APPALLED by lack of support from the Government for the victims
of child marriages;
NOW THEREFORE, calls upon Government;
a) To urgently review existing legislation, if any, and come up
with stringent penalties. If there is no legislation, which
adequately deals with this scourge, Government to
immediately come up with such, so that Parliament enacts it
without further delay.
b) To roll out programmes aimed at assisting victims of child
marriages.
c) To immediately come up with educational programmes to
educate communities in all the countrys ten provinces on the
ills of child marriages.
d) To commission a research in all the countrys ten provinces in
order to determine the magnitude of the scourge in
Zimbabwe.
MS. MAJOME: I second.
MR. MAONDERA: Thank you Madam Speaker for giving me the
opportunity to debate this very important motion on child
marriages. To start with, child marriages to me, I can equate it to a
crime against humanity because the perpetrators of child marriages
are violating childrens rights. In some instances, they are doing that
with impunity. Child marriages in Zimbabwe are a hidden crisis
where young girls from poor backgrounds are married off by their
relatives or parents. Normally, the culprits or perpetrators walk
away scot-free because there is this reluctance to talk about it.
Child marriages are destroying human potential and reinforcing
gender inequalities on a global scale. It is subjecting young girls to
the elevated health risks that come with early pregnancy and
childbirth. It is reinforcing the subordination of women and it is
holding back progress towards the United Nations 2015 goal of

universal primary education. Without educating girls who are not in

school today and preventing them from marrying, we cannot ever
hope to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Statistics show that child marriages are a serious problem in
Zimbabwe and 21% of children (mostly girls) are married before the
age of 18. According to 2011 UNFPA statistics, 31% of women who
are between 20-24 years old were married by the age of 18 years in
Zimbabwe. According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency,
the median age at first marriage in Zimbabwe has been declining
from 19 years for women currently aged 15-49 years to 16 years for
those aged 15-19 years. Five per cent of women aged 15-49 years
currently in marriage or union were married before the age of 15
(rural 6%, urban 2%).
(Following an interjection) Marriage before the age of 15 years
decreased with education of women and household wealth and
increased with the age of women. On the other hand, 32% of the
women aged 20-49 years currently in marriage or union were
married before 18 years, (rural areas 39% and urban areas 21%).
Marriage before 18 years decreased as education and wealth
increased. The proportion of women aged 20-49 years who married
before 18 years was highest in the age group 45-49 years at 40%
compared to around 31% in the rest of the age groups.
Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All
forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which prohibits
child marriages in Article 16.2. Zimbabwe has made tremendous
strides in pegging the legal age of majority at 18 and thus, expressly
prohibiting anyone below the age of 18 from getting married. This
shows that we have a commitment to tackle both the practice of
child marriage and put an end to it.
It is appropriate that we would regard 18 as the legal minimum age
at which a person may enter a legal contract of marriage. This
means that subsidiary legislation allowing for court applications
should be aligned with the new Constitution, which provides that the
right to marry and find a family is limited to men and women who
have attained the age of majority which is 18 years. The law was
ushered on the backdrop of the previously existing legislation, which
is at variance with the New Constitution.
The Marriage Act [5:11] provides that a girl between the ages of 16
and 18 may, with the consent of her mother and father, enter into a
civil marriage under the Marriage Act and prohibits the marriage of
girl children below the age of 16 years. The Marriage Act does not,
however, permit a boy below the age of 18 years to marry under the
Marriage Act. The Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5:07] does not
specify a marriageable age for persons intending to contract a

customary law marriage. It is disturbing that the Government has

not prioritised the alignment of the marriage laws with the new
Constitution so as to provide for the equal treatment of children
under the marriage laws, be the civil or customary and for the
prohibition of the marriage of every boy and girl below the age of 18
years.
The Government should prioritise the alignment of marriage laws to
the Constitution and hasten to criminalise child marriages. There is
need to start thinking about child marriages as paedophilia and
rape and not just as child marriage. We need to bring the term,
paedophilia home and identify with it in our context, as a
disturbing phenomenon that is actually in our midst.
There is also the need to start registration of every marriage
including unregistered customary law unions in order to have a
monitoring mechanism. The creation of such a database will go a
long way in the eradication of child marriages.
The Government has to be clear and audible from the highest office
on the dangers of this practice and all measures possible must be
taken and be seen to be taken by Government to eradicate child
marriages. Programmes must be initiated within communities to
educate and find ways to end child marriages with Government on
the forefront.
Psychosocial support should be availed for all victims of child
marriages who need it. Shelters and safe havens run by the
Government should be provided so that young girls have an
alternative when they are faced with this challenge and these must
be made known to all.
Government must also find a way of assisting victims of child
marriages because most of them are traumatised and they have no
emotional, moral and psychological support. The Government must
also come up with safe havens whereby those young girls, who may
be forced into marriage are kept and counseled.
It is clear that at the heart of child marriages lie issues of social
norms and practices, religious practices and socio-economic
challenges. With all laws put in place if these factors are not clearly
addressed, then all efforts will be futile. Child marriage is imbedded
in our society at different angles and a lot has to be done to redress
this social ill.
Culture is one of the obstacles to the enjoyment of childrens rights
in Africa. This problem is further compounded by the fact that the
family is the custodian of culture and some cultural practices such

as payment of lobola lead to childrens rights trampled on with

impurity.
Some of the reasons for early marriages are:
1. Beliefs
Some young girls are forced into early marriages with men twice
their age because of ridiculous beliefs such as the fact that if an HIV
positive man sleeps with a virgin, he will be cured. As a result, some
evil HIV positive men prey on young innocent girls thereby
destroying the girls future.
2. Poverty
Due to stinking levels of poverty in Zimbabwe in particular and
Africa in general, young girls are considered an economic burden to
the family. Therefore, if she gets married, that is one mouth less to
feed. There is a case of a ten year old Zimbabwean girl who was
married off in 2001 to a 40 year old man in order to obtain food. She
was allegedly sold for Z$2000 which was equivalent to US$7. Many
child marriages are related to poverty, with parents needing the
bride price of a daughter to feed, clothe, educate and house the rest
of the family. Child marriages, in fact worsen the cycle of
intergenerational poverty.
3. Religion
It is worrisome that some wicked people hide behind religion. Some
so-called prophets abuse their positions as prophets to hand-pick
girls for the elderly men in the church who already have other wives.
4. Impurity
Due to some weak laws, some people take advantage to force girls
into early marriages knowing very well that they will not be
convicted.
5. Teenage sex
Some teenagers are indulging into early sexual relationships with
older men and once they are impregnated, they jet into early
marriages. In Mt. Darwin recently, many child mothers as young as
13 years delivered their babies at home for the fear of going to
clinics and hospitals where they would be questioned about their
marriages.
Section 78 of the Constitution is very clear that no one should be
forced to marry against their wish. Section 26 of the same
Constitution is also very clear. The existing pieces of legislation such
as Marriage Act [5:11] and Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5:07]
must be aligned to one supreme law of the land. Stringent penalties
such as mandatory minimum sentences of nine years must be
applied. Child marriage is a euphemism of rape and must be treated
as such.

Although various organisations have been carrying out research on

child marriages, I suggest that the Ministry responsible for child
protection must immediately carry out research in the countrys ten
provinces in order to determine the magnitude of the scourge of
child marriages in Zimbabwe. The research must be thorough and
its findings must be made public.
It is imperative that some educational programmes be rolled out
targeting traditional leaders and religious sects on how heinous is
child marriages. These educational programmes must also cascade
into schools so that children know their rights and report to the
police when such rights are being violated by anyone.
The Government must find a way to assist victims of child
marriages, most of them who will be wallowing in abject poverty.
Some of these children would have their education interrupted and
it must be incumbent upon Government to make sure that these
victims finish their education in order to realise their full potential.
As most of these children are forced into marriages, they are
traumatised and they must be assisted psychologically and morally
through counseling.
It is also heartening to note that our traditional leaders have
reached a communiqu whereby they pledged their support in
ending this problem of child marriages. It must not end there. The
traditional leaders must also cascade the message of supporting for
supporting the ending of this problem to their subjects. It is also
heartening to note that the Heads of State, at the recent SADC
Summit, pledged that they are committed to end child marriages. I
urge the Heads of State to walk the talk so that if it starts from the
top, this problem can be eliminated.
I am also suggesting that the minister responsible for child
protection must come up with a Bill so that we the legislators pass
the Bill. That Bill should come up with stiffer penalties; child
marriage must be treated like rape. It is important that the minister
should come up with such a Bill. The Bill must be fast-tracked
because when debating the Finance Bill, there is always a propensity
to try and fast- track it so that it becomes a law. At times we spend
the whole night here debating the Finance Bill. I am suggesting that
we should do the same with that Bill which criminalises child
marriages, so that it passes without any further delay. Madam
Speaker, I do not see any reasonable person throwing spanners on
the efforts by both the Executive and the legislature to stop this
scourge.

In conclusion Madam Speaker, I urge hon. members that when we

are debating this important topic, let us debate it with an open
mind. Let us not politicise it as it is an issue, which is affecting all
the people in Zimbabwe across the political divide.