Human Rights Archive Zimbabwe

Child marriage remains a problem in Southern Africa due to a variety of factors. These include poverty; gender inequity; tradition; insecurity,especially in times of conflict, limited education and lack of adequate legal frameworks in Member States, most of which are inconsistent.

The International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated annually on October 11 to highlight issues of gender inequality and the challenges facing young girls.

The Conference of Women Parliamentarians took place at the precincts of the PanAfrican Parliament in Midrand South Africa on 1st and 2nd November, 2013 under the Theme: “Parliamentarians Responding to Violence against Women and Girls in Africa, from Legislation to Effective Enforcement”.

The project is drawn against one of the Government of Zimbabwe’s key interventions in improving utilisation of comprehensive quality services for protection, care and support for GBV survivors in accordance with the National Gender-Based Violence Strategy. The project sought to respond and strengthen community gender-based violence service delivery and holistic support targeting adolescent girls and young women in line with the Multi-Sectoral Protocol on the Management of Sexual Abuse in Zimbabwe and the Constitution

Sexual violence is the most pervasive form of violence in many of the conflict-ridden countries in Africa and continues to remain so, through various post-conflict stages even after the conflict has ended. Violence, particularly of a sexual nature and against women, that was characteristic of a prolonged conflict, comes to be accepted as the norm and part of the culture more so than it was prior to the conflict.

This is the second report on child marriage in Goromonzi District, following on a preliminary report of a study carried out in 2014 (RAU.2014), and series of legal reports prior to this (Dube.2012; RAU. 2011(a); RAU. 2011(b)). These reports are a contribution to the rapidly growing debate in Zimbabwe and the international world on the undesirability of early marriage for girls.

The pamphlet provides a summary of the Domestic Violence Act [Chapter 5:16] and explanatory notes on its application for the benefit of children, their caregivers and partners in the child rights sector.The Act was enacted on 26 February 2007 and became operational on 25 October 2007.