Several child brides narrated various conflicts between them and their husbands and between them and their in-laws. They described how difficult it was to resolve those conflicts because their own families did not support them in times of conflict. Most child brides accused their families of only being interested in material things which they got from the “mukwasha” (son-inlaw). Frequently, the child brides’ families chose to settle disputes informally without taking their daughters’ abusive husbands to court for fear of losing out on the groceries and other financial benefits. One respondent said she told her mother the problems she was having with her older husband, but the mother ignored her because she had just been blinded by the material things. Due to the marital problems, some of the child brides professed that they believe they mistimed the time to get married and should have waited a bit more. Others respondents bemoaned their lack of financial freedom after marriage as they were now wholly dependent on the spouse. They reported that since they were getting money from someone else they could not do simple things which they could previously could like buying things like pizza without having to seek permission from the husband. They felt like they had surrendered their independence and control of their lives to the husbands. Essentially, marriage was a process that de-individualised the child brides as they became more of subjects than partners of the older husbands. However, problems were not unique to those married early. Many respondents complained that their marriages were blighted by spousal fighting about finances. One particular respondent indicated that, when she and her husband got married, she was the one who was taking care of her husband, paying for all household expenses with her money, including paying for him to get his passport. Later on in their marriage, the husband went to Mozambique to fetch his other clothes and personal belongings but never came back, even when the wife fell ill and could not work in the fields anymore. Another respondent said that her husband did not respect her and the fights over finances were so deep to the point that she and her husband separated for months, and reconciled later after “…aripa ” when he paid appeasement to the wife’s family. Husbands generally did not tell the wives before they got married that they would have to quit working after marriage. Many respondents indicated that if they had been told or asked before, they would have insisted on keeping their jobs after getting married. In the reported cases, the husbands denied their wives the chance to work and earn some money for the reported fear that the wives would become prostitutes. According to respondents child brides were traumatised by their marriage experience so much that some of them often found it better to return to their original homes even if that meant staying with abusive stepmothers and fathers. 5.1 Religious affiliation Available literature on child marriages is inconclusive on the role of religion in child marriages. However, the study’s data indicates that among the study setting the Apostolic sect was the most practiced religion among both child brides (47%) and non-child brides (67%) before marriage. Of note as well was the 33% for both “Formal Christian” and “Alternative Christian” before marriage for child brides. 19