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Zimbabwe outlaws child marriage in landmark ruling

Xinhua, January 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court on Wednesday outlawed marriages of girls under the age of 18 in a landmark ruling that is set to enhance child rights protection and curb the practice that is relatively widespread in the country.

The court made the ruling in a case where two women Loveness Mudzuri (20) and Ruvimbo Tsapotsi (19) were challenging the Customary Marriages Act that recognizes the age of 16 as the legal age of consent.

The two women married before the age of 18. Their lawyer, Tendai Biti, argued that the Customary Marriages Act violated the new constitution adopted in 2013 which sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years.

"With effect from 20 January 2016, no person, male or female, may enter into any marriage, including an unregistered customary law union or any other union including one arising out of religion or religious rite, before attaining the age of 18," reads part of the ruling.

Zimbabwe is one of the countries on the African continent with a high prevalence of child marriages along with Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Niger and Chad, according to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

According to the Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey (2010-2011), 33 percent of women in Zimbabwe were married before reaching 18 years of age.

The Zimbabwe Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey for 2014 also says about 24.5 percent of girls aged between 15 and 19 years were already married or in union, compared to 1.7 percent of boys in that demographic.

Studies have revealed that poverty is one of the major factors underlying child marriage in Zimbabwe, along with harmful religious and cultural practices.

There are some religious apostolic sects in the country that claim that such marriages are arranged spiritually and therefore cannot be challenged. There are also incidences where young girls are forced into marriage to appease avenging spirits of the dead. Enditem