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The Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) has embarked on a National Inquiry to come up with strategies for ending child marriages and sexual exploitation and abuse of young girls.
Addressing journalists in Harare today, Mrs. Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe the ZGC Chairperson said the Zimbabwe Gender Commission Act affords them a mandate to conduct investigations and make legally binding recommendations for the removal of barriers to the attainment of gender equality.
“The institutionalisation of Child Marriages and Sexual exploitation and abuse in various sectors of our society constitute a systemic barrier prejudicial to the attainment of Gender Equality and Gender Equity. The negative effects of this scourge on parties, mainly the young brides, the families, communities and the Nation cannot be overemphasised. Getting married as a young immature bride exposes the young female to extreme poverty, curtails her career progression, and exposes her to various sexual diseases as well as sexual and gender-based violence.
“Child marriage is a violation of human rights and the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, is concerned with the surge in the practice as well as the exploitation of young women and girls. The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) indicates that 33.7% of girls aged under 18 are married, which means that one in three girls under 18 are married. ZIMSTAT also cited that, 2% of boys get married before reaching the age of 18 years. We, therefore, need to take urgent action to address the scourge,” the ZGC Chairperson said.
Pursuant to its mandate, the Commission is conducting a multi-sectoral stakeholders’ inquiry on child marriages, sexual exploitation, and abuse of young girls. This was largely informed by 15-year-old Anna Machaya’s unfortunate death on the 16th of July 2021 whilst giving birth. This triggered the Commission into publishing a Government Gazette notice on the 24th of September 2021 signalling the Commission’s intention to launch a nationwide investigation and public inquiry on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Young Girls (including those with disabilities).
“Collectively, we have a responsibility to ensure that children both boys and girls have the enjoyment of their fundamental rights. The provision of a conducive environment for our children to flourish and realise their full potential through ensuring safe spaces free from deranging practices of child marriages, sexual exploitation, and abuse as espoused in various United Nations human rights instruments and African protocols is requisite and obligatory.”
The Children’s act compels the state to put in place measures that ring-fence protection of girls and boys inclusive of those who have a high risk of vulnerability. The Constitution of Zimbabwe mandates the state to adopt policies and measures to ensure that children are protected from maltreatment, neglect, or any form of abuse. The Constitution further requires the state to take measures to ensure that children are not pledged in marriage and sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years and prohibits forced marriages
Given these parameters, the protection of girls from any malpractices and social ills that may be sanitized through religious, traditional customs, belief systems, and cultural norms is non-negotiable. Hence, the Commission is duty-bound to fulfill its constitutional mandate to ensure the prevailing of social justice and remedying of violations of rights relating to gender.
“Sustainable development goal number 5 affirmatively speaks on gender equality in all spheres and the need to foster initiatives and opportunities for our children through an inclusive approach in line with the 2030 SDG Agenda of “Leaving No One Behind”. Therefore, it is imperative to accelerate efforts to ensure realisation of the goal by way of changing mindsets, demystifying unsafe doctrines and attitudinal beliefs that continue to instigate the propagation of child marriages, sexual exploitation, and abuse of young girls.”
Speaking on the same occasion, Ms. Madelene Monoja, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Zimbabwe deputy Resident Representative – Programmes, applauded the Zimbabwe Gender Commission for rolling out the inquiry on ending child marriages and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) of women and girls in the apostolic sect.
She said it is a scourge and vice that need to be rooted out in all communities and societies.
“Girls and boys deserve peaceful communities. An inquiry of this nature is a piece of important evidence and data gathering exercise that will inform a systemic and targeted response. Child marriages have been recognized under international human rights law as a harmful practice that is often associated with serious forms of violence against women and girls, including intimate partner violence. Not only is it a grave human rights violation, but it is also an affront to human dignity, well-being, and an impediment to sustainable development,” Ms. Monoja said.
Last year, in July, a 14-year-old girl died whilst giving birth at an Apostolic shrine in Marange, Manicaland Province in a case that is now referred to as the Anna Machaya. It was this case that brought to the fore, the scourge of sexual exploitation and abuse of young women and girls including those with disabilities fuelled by the harmful systemic issues within religious and cultural practices in Zimbabwe.
Ms. Monoja said although Zimbabwe possesses a progressive Constitution which clearly outlaws child and forced marriages, the prevalence of child marriage remains unacceptably high with 1 in 3 (33.7%) girls and 4% of boys being married before the age of 18.[1] Statistics from the Multiple Indicator Survey further indicate that Child Marriage prevalence is high (40%) in rural areas as compared to urban areas (21.3%)[2].
On 24 October 2021, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission gave notice of its intention to conduct a national inquiry on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Young Girls (including those with disabilities) and Child Marriages with reference to the Apostolic Sect.
The UN Senior Official commended the Zimbabwe Gender Commission on its stance on child Marriages, and for going further and interrogating the efficacy of access to justice and social protection mechanisms, especially for young women, girls, and young people with disabilities faced with such violations.
“We are therefore encouraged by this high-level commitment to this cause and remain ready to upscale all endeavors and deploy support to it. To this end, UNDP in conjunction with UNWOMEN will support the national inquiry on violence against women and girls with a special focus on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Young women and Girls (including those with disabilities) and Child Marriages.
“We recognise that ending child marriages requires a mix of strategies and concerted efforts by all stakeholders.As such, under the Spotlight Initiative, UNDP in conjunction with the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) has focused on the operationalisation of the National Action Plan on ending Child marriages, with particular attention to strengthening the local capacities of JLOS institutions that are critical actors in the justice delivery chain for SGBV to prevent and protect children against violence and sexual abuse.”
The UNDP has also supported the development of a Trainings Resource Guide that provides a comprehensive, accessible overview of the issue of child marriage, a synopsis of the work being carried out to end child marriage, and tools for integrating child-marriage prevention into justice sector institutions’ policy and practice. To date, the National Prosecuting Authority, Legal Aid Directorate, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Prison, and Correctional Services, and the Ministry of Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs have been capacitated.
It pledged to continue to partner with the Government, and civil society partners at all levels, to promote and protect the rights of young women and girls including those with disabilities, assisting with the development of policies, programmes, and legislation to address and curtail the practice of child marriages.
The UNDP called on stakeholders to improve the collection and use of quantitative, qualitative, and comparable data on violence against women and harmful practices, disaggregated by sex, age, disability, geographical location, socioeconomic status, education level, and other key factors, as appropriate, to enhance research and dissemination of evidence-based and good practices relating to the prevention and elimination of child marriage and to strengthen monitoring and impact assessment of existing policies and programmes as a means of ensuring their effectiveness and implementation.
The EU is partnering with the UN and national partners such as ZGC to respond to ending violence against women through the Spotlight Initiative Programme.
REFERENCES
[1] ZIMSTATS, 2019 Report
[2] Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019