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Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter

THE Marriage Bill that has sailed through Parliament has been described as a step in the right direction, as parents and guardians who participate in child marriages will face jail time once enacted into law.

The Marriages Bill was on Monday passed by the National Assembly following amendments made to the proposed law by Senate last month.

After the approval of the amendments by Senate last month, the Bill had to be returned to the National Assembly for it to consider the changes before it was sent to President Mnangagwa for assent.

In clause 3 (1), the Marriage Bill provides that “No person under the age of 18 years may contract a marriage or enter into an unregistered customary law marriage or a civil partnership”.

For clarity, clause 3 (2) declares that “child marriages are prohibited and under no circumstances shall any person contract, solemnise, promote, permit, allow or coerce or aid or abet the contracting, solemnising, promotion, permitting, allowing or coercion of the marriage, unregistered customary law marriage, civil partnership, pledging, promise in marriage or betrothal of a child.”

Radio personality Ms Farai Juliet Magada, who was a child bride at the age of 15 said the passing of the Bill gave her joy that their cries had been heard.

“As a victim of child marriage, and being a child bride, I vowed that no one must go through what I went through, because it is a very evil practice.

In the past they had a way they did things and it made me understand that the law was there but no one was there to implement it.

A lot of atrocities were happening, but there was no one who was standing up and saying this isn’t right against women.

Now that the voice is there, I’m happy that Government is giving us a voice to really fight with so much confidence against such an atrocity,” said Ms Magada who runs Pink and Purple Foundation that seeks to eliminate inhumane harmful practices that violate young girls’ human rights such as child marriages, teenage pregnancies, gender-based violence and sexual exploitation.

However, Ms Magada, said she would have preferred that the age of marriage be at 21.

“When you are under the age of 18 you don’t know anything, even if you are 18, that is why I wished they could have pushed it to at least 21.

When you are 21, your life isn’t robbed, you know that you want to do this and that and your mind is ready and you are set for life. I feel like 18 is very young, you need to go to school and find yourself.

“When women become empowered it starts at a young age. And when a woman gets to the age of 18, she is still finding herself, what career she wants to choose and chase and learn about dating and she is understanding her body that is developing in a certain way and you are not ready for marriage and child birth.”

Ms Prisca Dube, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights project officer for Bulawayo said when enacted into law, those who marry off children or participate in the ceremony will be jailed.

“We still need to do more work in terms of raising awareness in the communities, from a cultural and a religious perspective where people have been marrying off children on the basis of culture or religion.

We have to tie these things with the Criminal and Codification Reform Act, to say those who marry off children will be committing an offence. If you do, you are liable for imprisonment so that people can be arrested.

“Not only those who marry these children, but those who participate in the whole shenanigan, even the lobola ceremony for young children.

We as a country should allow children to be children and adults can get married,” said Ms Dube.

She said although the Bill was a step in the right direction, more needs to be done to educate people.

“For those who rape, we know the penalty is 20 years, but they continue to do it.

There should be awareness raising so that we shift that mentality from looking at girl children as an economic means when hardships strike, or as a religious tool to appease certain things.

If we could tie child marriages to offences that are already there, either rape or having sexual intercourse with a young person, the penalty must not be fines or community services, but punitive and they should know they will go to jail,” said Ms Dube.

Another lawyer, Ms Nikiwe Ncube-Tshabalala of Ncube Tshabalala Attorneys concurred saying the passage of the proposed law is a great development.

“There was no provision in the statutes but it was just case law, saying no more to child marriages.

So now when it’s a statute it becomes mandatory, in terms of that everyone has to comply.

Be it a marriage officer or who, the provision says, they should verify whether the ages of the people that you are marrying before you solemnise it are 18 and above.

“It is a step in the right direction, we can say we have put a stop to child marriages, whether customarily or civil, they now know that any child below the age of 18 should not be married off.

It’s a positive if that bill gets into war,” said Mrs Ncube-Tshabalala.

She said the Bill has been aligned with the constitution in terms of equality.

“Everyone is equal before the law, be it male or female.

Women used to be treated like children and being told what to do, but the bill upholds their consent without fear and intimidation.

“The Bill has penalties, and it gives hefty sentences to parents or guardians, the people who are supposed to protect the child.

There is a clause that says the marriage officer must verify, whether it is a chief, a parent or whoever presiding over that marriage, they have a duty to make sure that the people getting married are 18 and above.

So, the Bill clamps the loopholes that were being used to marry off children,” said Ms Ncube-Tshabalala.

She said there needs to be awareness in the community so that people understand not only the child marriages section, but the whole Bill.

“All that has to be done now is awareness to say that, if they see something of that sought happening, they should report, whether you are a teacher, or whoever.

When you come across a child whose rights are being violated in terms of the Marriage Bill, hoping it becomes an act, they should raise alarm,” said Ms Ncube-Tshabalala.

In 2013, Zimbabwe adopted a new Constitution which stipulates that “no person may be compelled to enter marriage against their will”.

In early 2016, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Marriage Act, which allowed girls as young as 16 to be married with their parents’ consent, was unconstitutional and recognised 18 years as the legal minimum age of marriage.

Child marriage is globally recognised as a violation of the rights of the child and a risk factor for violence against children.

Each year, an estimated 14 million young girls are married off globally, translating to 39 000 girls every day.

One girl under the age of 15 is married every seven seconds with girls as young as 10 being forced to marry much older men.
Africa has one of the highest child marriage prevalence rates after Asia.

In Zimbabwe, like other countries, girls who are married under 18 years are often the least educated, poorest and those living in rural areas.

The consequences of child marriages are devastating and often determine the trajectory of a girl’s life. — @bonganinkunzi