WITH her two-year-old baby tightly strapped to her back, 18-year-old Rosemary Kunaka (not real name) left the Marondera Magistrates’ Court a dejected woman. The magistrate’s decision on her maintenance claim was not what she expected.
BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
Her unemployed former husband had been ordered to pay $30 monthly maintenance for the upkeep of their baby.
So Kunaka shed tears, as she left the court premises, facing the spectre of a bleak future.
Kunaka’s story reflects that of many other young girls, who were impregnated at tender ages, some even under 15, before being lured into marriage by the perpetrators in a bid to evade arrest.
However, at 18, Kunaka was booted out of the house by her husband, who accused her of infidelity — which she says was a ploy to get rid of her. Now that she is an adult, it would seem he had only married her so that he could escape the long arm of the law.
“I met him at Exhibition Grounds during the Agricultural Show three years ago. I was doing Form 3 then. He was very loving and showered me with goodies, as his mother is in the United Kingdom. I got pregnant and, at first, he was dodgy. However, his uncle negotiated with my parents, who had threatened to report the matter to police and he agreed to marry me,” she recalled in tears.
“All was fine until this year, when he became abusive and falsely accused me of infidelity. He kicked me out of the house and told me that since I was now 18, I could look after myself.”
Kunaka said whatever little money she was getting from him was used to provide for their daughter.
Her predicament is similar to that of many girls, who experience early teen pregnancies and settle for marriage either after being sweet-talked or as a result of tradition and cultural beliefs by their guardians.
Some cultural norms and values make it taboo for parent or guardians to accept a pregnant girl. These cultural beliefs have reportedly fuelled the rise of child marriages in the country.
Meanwhile, in a bid to evade the law, those involved in sexual unions with minors, opt for marriage before divorcing the girls when they reach the age of 18.
Justice for Children Trust (JCT) director, Caleb Mutandwa said it was unlawful to marry a girl in order to avoid prosecution and that there was need to empower the girl-child and communities with information on child marriages.
“With the Constitutional Court judgment of January 20, 2016, it is now unlawful for the man to marry the girl in order to avoid prosecution. Such a man should be reported to the police and prosecuted in terms of section 70 of the Criminal Code. The High Court has, on many occasions, emphasised that magistrates should consider such a marriage as an aggravating factor in passing sentence. This is, however, as far as the law can go,” he said.
“The remedy should be more than just the law. Girls need to be empowered with information to make informed decisions on sexual, reproductive and health issues.”
Mutandwa said there was also need to offer them alternatives beyond marrying the abuser, such as continuing with their education.
“Families also need the same empowerment for them not to push their young children into marriage or accept their young children getting married. This need for empowerment means stakeholders, including the government, media and civic society organisations, have a huge task ahead of them,” he said.
The JCT director said communities needed to be educated to work towards empowering the girl-child, including through education and addressing the poverty factor that pushes so many into making the forced choice of marriage.
Zimbabwe is one of the countries on the continent with a high prevalence rate of child marriages at 31%.
A survey by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency said one in three women aged 20 to 49 interviewed reported that they married before age 18.
Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of Children (ZNCWC) programmes manager, Maxim Murungweni said there was need for adoption of a Child Marriage Bill to end child marriages.
“In order to avoid such scenarios, there is need to scale up community sensitisation campaigns on the dangers of child marriages. We have to be on the same understanding with communities that child marriage is a violation of children’s rights,” he said.
“The draft Child Marriage Bill, if adopted, will go a long way in addressing such loopholes and technicalities like in this scenario. We acknowledge current efforts the government and civil society are doing towards ending child marriages. However, we need to allocate more resources towards ending child marriage activities.”
The Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development ministry, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund and several other United Nations agencies and organisations, has been working on a national action plan to end child marriages and its related communication for development activities.
Child marriage is a violation of Article 16(2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that: “Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.”
Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women states that women should have the same right as men to “freely choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent”.
Criminals hiding behind marriages of convenience : NewsDay Zimbabwe.