By Prince Njagu
Chenai Chingwaru (not real name) was forced to marry a 40 year old man at the tender age of 15 by her relatives after her parents died in a tragic car accident.
8years down the line, she is divorced and survives from her vegetable selling venture at “Chigovanyika” shops in the slums of St Marys.
A United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) 2014 report ranks Zimbabwe amongst the top 50 countries globally in terms of child marriage prevalence and the report shows that a total of 14 million girls a forced into marriage worldwide.
Such shocking statistics show how dire the situation is in the country and that urgent action needs to be taken to address the situation.
But what is the civil society and other responsible authorities doing to curb such heinous acts of abuse as perpetrators are walking scot-free.
Recently the Danish Embassy facilitating the launch of the “Orange Day” campaign which as part of the UN Secretary-Generals “UNITE against Women” movement which is meant to promote a violence free environment for both women and girls.
But it’s not a matter of organizing campaigns only. This needs active participation to address the challenges being faced by the young girls.
Chenai was forced to miss teenage pleasures and assume the role of motherhood as she was married-off to an old, abusive husband.
The young girl had to endure physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her 40 year old husband (on time of marriage) who made sure she didn’t engage in any self empowering economic activities.
“I married this old man not out of love but it was a way-out of the misery and poverty which I was living under at home. My relatives shunned me and I had to move from one homestead to the other after the death of my parents,” said Chenai.
She added that her life became even more miserable when she got married despite assurances by her relatives that marriage was her escape route out of poverty.
Zimbabwe being a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is required to apprehend perpetrators of child abuse and those culprits that marry girls before the age of 18.
She explained how she had to embrace the fact that her grandmother was too frail to work and that getting married was the only way out of this dire situation.
“I dropped out of school when I was 14. The same fate awaits my two girls here. The first born is now 8 but she hasn’t started school yet,” she said.
The reality of the situation is so agonizing as these girls have a predetermined, gloomy future from the very moment they take their first breathe of life.
Chenai narrates how relatives had told her to endure for the benefit of her family and relatives.
“My husband was very abusive to me constantly beating me up. He was never concerned about our little girls and I later decided to just leave him.
“Early this year I reported the case at Chitungwiza magistrate court and he was asked to pay $60 as maintenance but he only made the payment the first two months,” said Chenai.
She had taken enough of the beating and left the obnoxious husband.
Society is hoodwinking the girls into believing that marriage is the only way to dodge poverty and the girls in this slum are falling prey to elderly man.
“Zimbabwe as a country should see to it that international status are fully implemented so as to safeguard rights of the girl child and perpetrators should be apprehended”, said Daphine Jena: women activist from HerZimbabwe.
Zimbabwe as a nation should enforce human rights instruments such as CEDAW and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to readdress issues of child abuse and forced marriage in the country.
As was indicated by Virginia Muwanigwa, Director of Humanitarian Information Facilitation Centre (HIFC) at an Orange Day launch in Harare it is of paramount importance for everyone to standup and join forces to close the gap between man and women.
