Unregistered Customary Law Unions (80%) were the dominant type of marriage for those married under 18 years of age and it was also the dominant type for 74% of those married after turning 18 years. The other types of marriages were Eloping (11%), Chapter 5 (11) 9 and Cohabitation (5%) for those married after turning 18 years. None of the child brides were married under “Eloping”, “Chapter 5” or “Cohabitation”. The majority of child brides indicated that marriage was a negative experience for them, as they were either abused by the senior co-wife or by the husband or both. They also lamented the poor relations they had with the children of the first/senior wife. In some instances, the second wife who was also a child bride was around the same age as the senior wife’s children. Some child brides were forced by their parents to get married to the person who raped them. They described the marriage as tough, and highlighted that they were forced to work like slaves, taking care of many people and doing domestic chores, while the children and first wife basically did nothing. One respondent reported that her marriage was difficult to the point that she left the man, his family, the house and went back to stay with her original family. In the accounts given by some child brides, it was evident that their marriages were riddled with problems, including emotional and psychological abuse and being economically neglected by the husbands and co-wives. The households rarely had enough food to eat or the young child bride was the one who was not allocated enough food by the senior wife. Marriage was a very big step which the child brides made as a mistake and were ill-prepared for. Some child brides said they could not conduct themselves in the manner they were expected to as wives including carrying out domestic chores. Respondents recounted how as children, the child brides had not been taught how to carry out domestic chores and were thus, unable to take care of their new families. According to non-child brides, child marriages were usually a negative experience for the young girls. As an example, in a polygamous marriage (as narrated by one child bride), the husband had seventeen wives, hence he could not sexually satisfy all of them. This led to the child bride’s infidelity whereby she had an illicit sexual affair with one of the husband’s children because they were of the same age. For this particular child bride the situation was compounded by the restrictions on contraception by the Johanne Masowe sect. As a consequence of not using protection when having sexual intercourse, the child bride fell pregnant with her stepson’s child. One non-child bride respondent explained how child brides were usually ill-treated by the husbands who generally did not relate to them with the respect and affection they would to a wife. In instances of polygamy, it was difficult for the new and younger wife to be accepted as part of the family. The first wife usually did not give the new wife anything to eat. In some instances the men married the child brides simply because they wanted another sex partner. Thus, members of the (previously nuclear) family ostracised the child bride for bringing troubles and complications into their families. The child brides’ marriages seemed fraught with difficulties. Chapter 5:11: Marriage Act -This marriage is conducted at the Magistrate Court or in church before a registered marriage officer. It allows a man to have one wife at any given time. Only the High Court of Zimbabwe can dissolve this marriage. 9 18