Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development among other human rights instruments. Within all these instruments, protection of women and girls from genderbased violence remains a priority. The government of Zimbabwe as a signatory to regional and international declarations on the rights and protection of children and women has implemented a number of protective policies, legislative instruments and programmes to ensure the fulfilment of all children and women’s rights and specifically their right to protection from sexual violence and abuse. At national level, Zimbabwe in 2013, adopted a new Constitution which is much more progressive compared to its predecessor, the Lancaster House Constitution. The new constitution guarantees not only gender equality and non-discrimination as a principle, it also outlaws customs, traditional or religious practice which are contrary to the Constitution. It specifically protects the rights of women within and upon dissolution of marriage, women’s rights to personal security and bodily integrity, within the public and private sphere. The Girl Child was also further guaranteed protection, in view of the context where patriarchy marginalises her in favour of the Boy Child. The Constitution sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years thereby prohibiting child marriages. It has further extensive provisions on the rights of the child which include to be protected from all forms of abuse and have their best interests as the paramount consideration in all matters affecting them. In the Mudzuru and Another v Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Other CCZ12/15 the court declared the Marriage Act [Chapter 5:11] and the Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5:07] were unconstitutional in so far as they allowed marriage of girls below 18 years following the promulgation of the new Constitution. The new constitution thus brought to an end the legalisation of inequality by outlawing gender-based discrimination. The provisions of the new Constitution include the establishment of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission, among others. These independent democracy strengthening institutions are expected to provide recourse to citizens who may feel that their rights have been violated in one way or the other. They are also proactive in facilitating contemporary research into key issues and recommending appropriate action by relevant authorities at various levels. The challenge remains that of making the constitutional court ruling truly operational and effective. Since the late 1990s, Zimbabwe has put in place gender machinery that saw more than 10 years of discussions of a National Gender Policy, eventually adopted in 2004. The current policy, spanning 2013-2017, recognises GBV as a national priority. In 2008, the country also adopted the Domestic Violence Act [Chapter 5:16], meant to provide relief to women and men who may find themselves facing violence from intimate partners, relatives and others. The enactment of the law also led to the adoption of various policies, mechanisms and measures to ensure the operationalisation of the law. The Act recognises and outlaws physical, sexual, psychological violence in addition to economic abuse. It goes further to ensure that the rights of those living with disability are protected from abuse.