5.3 Sexual dissatisfaction Some respondents decried the sexual performance of their husbands. One respondent alleged that that her husband having extra marital affairs with a woman who bewitched them and made him unable to satisfy her sexually. “…so even when I try to have sex with him his penis cannot become erect because the woman he had an affair with tied him so that he is unable to have sex with anybody other than her. People would ask me what was wrong and I would tell them he is not a man at all. Right now he went to Mutare for four days because he runs away from the bedroom and the fact that he cannot have sex with me… He lies about being sick so that he does not have to have sex with me.” Other respondents indicated that sexual dissatisfaction was rife in polygamous marriages. In one marriage alluded to by some respondents the man had seventeen wives. In such instances it became doubly difficult for the one man to meet the needs of all his 17 wives. Inevitably, infidelity arose (see case above). 5.4 Living with the risk of HIV infection and abuse Many respondents indicated that the early days of their marriages were happy without major fights between the spouses. However, many respondents also indicated that there always was a turning point in the marriages when the husband either became violently abusive or would financially neglect the family and indulge in beer drinking binges which resulted in struggles to take care and provide for the family. It was at that stage when the husbands would also engage in sexual intercourse with multiple partners, thereby exposing their wives to the risk of HIV infection. According to most of the respondents, the husbands could not be easily confronted about their behaviour since they would quickly resort to violent physical abuse. As a result, the women lived under a very real and constant fear of being infected with HIV by the promiscuous husbands. Some child brides reported that they felt let down by their siblings. According to some respondents, because of marriage they were able to pay for their siblings’ schools fees, but, once the siblings finished school and secured jobs, they did not even visit the elder sisters who supported them earlier. Another respondent thought she was so poor that her siblings felt ashamed of loving her back and visiting her, even though she initially helped them get through school. She said her siblings looked down on her because she was a child bride. For some women, returning home was their only option when the husband abused them. Returning to their parents’ homes was perceived as a sign of failure and the communities generally looked down upon the women coming from such failed marriages, implying that a failed marriage was the fault of the woman. 5.5 Livelihoods Virtually all child brides did not return to school after getting married, whilst most (68%) of the non-child brides had some form of secondary education. Given that education levels strongly correlate with future income, it was important for women to continue with education after marriage. According to young respondents, the husbands disliked the idea of the child brides going back to school because they could meet up with young men and could end up in relationships with them. Child bride respondents also explained their husbands’ fear of 21