BY SHARON SIBINDI Zimbabwe Gender Commission chairperson Margret Mukahanana-Sangarwe says Bulawayo has the least number of child marriages compared to other provinces.
She made the remarks at Stanley Hall, Bulawayo during the National Inquiry on Child Marriages and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Young Girls in Zimbabwe.
It is said that one woman out of three in Zimbabwe aged 20 to 49 was married before the age of 18, and 5% of girls are married before the age of 15.
“According to the 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICs), (32.6%) of girls were married before the age of 18.
“For Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, the statistics are relatively lower at 13.5 % compared with other provinces,” Sangarwe said.
“Zimstat data also indicates the rural-urban divide in child marriages where rural girls are twice more likely to be married before the age of 18 than their urban counterparts.”
According to the MICS, Mashonaland Central tops the list with 4 475 teenage pregnancies and 1 436 child marriages while Matabeleland South is second with 290 teenage pregnancies and 65 child marriages.
In Zimbabwe, child marriages and forced marriages are illegal but reports show that an estimated 34%of girls will be married by the time they are 18 years old.
The country has ratified several conventions to ending child marriags such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 and the 2008 African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
In 2016, the Constitutional Court outlawed child marriages.
Mukahanana-Sangarwe said Covid-19 aftershocks that included worsening poverty were fuelling child marriages.
“In addition, the inquiry process allows the Commission to gather evidence, information and testimonies from the survivors, key-informant witnesses and stakeholders as it tries to get deeper insights and understand the underlying issues around the practice,” she said.
“Regrettably, this national inquiry is coming against a background of high prevalence of child marriages, sexual exploitation and abuse of young girls in the country which is a cause of great concern for the Commission.”
She added: “From the findings of this preliminary inquiry, it was gathered that sexual exploitation and abuse of young girls and child marriages are rampant not only in the Apostolic sect, but was pervasive across the nation.”
Zimbabwe has committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriages by 2030 in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
According to United Nations Population Fund, globally, one in every five girls is married, or in a union, before reaching the age of 18 years.