By Phyllis Kachere
HARARE, Apr 9 (IPS) While her peers get ready to go to school each
morning, 14-year-old Matipedza (not her real name) of Marange district in
Manicaland has to stay behind to prepare breakfast for her 67-year-old
husband.
Although her marriage is not legally registered, it is customarily
recognised, and the teenager is expected to live as a housewife and soon
bear children.
"I can’t go against [the will of] my elders and leave my
husband in order to attend school. Besides, where would I go if I leave?
My parents will not welcome me," said Matipedza.
Her case is not unique. In fact, the majority of school-going girls in
Marange, some as young as ten, have been married to older men from their
church, the Johanne Marange Apostolic sect, which is infamous for
believing in polygamy. Most marriages are arranged between adult men and
under-age girls.
Although it is criminal under the recently enacted Domestic Violence Act
to marry off an under-age girl – the age of sexual consent in Zimbabwe is
16 years – it is difficult to stop these marriages, as members of the sect
are complicit and secretive.
Recently released research by Harare-based non-governmental organisation
Women and Law Southern Africa (WLSA) has shown that young girls in early
marriages are likely to suffer birth complications, some of them resulting
in death.
The WLSA study also revealed that those girls are prone to cervical
cancer, suffer psychological trauma and encounter a host of problems, such
as failing to deal with the social pressures that come with being a wife
in a polygamous union.
The findings have forced Zimbabwean authorities to step up efforts to stop
the practice that has forced thousands of girls in the Marange, Odzi and
Buhera districts of Manicaland to drop out of school.
Although current data is not available, statistics from the Ministry of
Education, Sport and Culture district office reveal that out of the 10,000
girls who enrolled in Form One in the Marange district in 2000, only about
a third completed Form Four in 2003.
&com;Those who dropped out became wives, with a small number dropping
out because they could not afford the fees,&com; said a senior
district education officer who did not want to be named.
School dropouts
Most girls stop schooling in July when the sect celebrates Passover, a
religious festivity during which marriage ceremonies take place.
Gideon Mombeshora, a sect member, told IPS that most men in the church
prefer to marry under-age girls because it is easier to control them.
&com;Most men want to get married to docile women. The younger the
bride the more chances for dominance for the man,&com; he said.
He further explained the sect strongly believes in the practice of
under-age brides: &com;Although it is not in our church’s
statutes that old men should marry under-age girls, the practice is deeply
entrenched in our belief system.&com;
Former senator Sheila Mahere said early marriages are a social ill that
threatens to derail government’s bid to fulfil its Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) on increasing access to primary education as girls
continue to drop out of the already constrained education system.
&com;Early marriages threaten national economic development, as bright
and intelligent girls are forced out of school to become cheap labour and
child bearers in their homesteads. Most of the girls become farm labourers
on their husbands’ farms,&com; she said.
The Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe-Africa
(UDA-CIZA), a coalition of 160 apostolic sects in Zimbabwe, said tries to
raise awareness among apostolic sect leaders of the dangers of early
marriages. But in most cases, it faces serious resistance.
&com;The police has been the biggest let down in early forced child
marriages as they have continued to turn a blind eye to these
crimes,&com; explain UDA-CIZA programme manager Edson Tsvakai.
&com;We sometimes report some of our members to the police for these
crimes but there have been very few successful prosecutions, largely
because police view these cases as not serious and because some of the
sect leaders are highly networked with the authorities.&com;
Serious resistance
In 2007, the Harare-based Girl Child Network, rescued an 11-year-old girl
who had been married off to a 44-year-old man in Buhera. The man was
successfully prosecuted and sentenced to six months in jail. However,
shortly thereafter, the sentence was suspended and the girl had to live in
a safe house because the unrepentant husband continued to claim her as his
wife.
Caroline Nyamayemombe, gender officer at the United Nations Population and
Development Agency (UNFPA) country office in Harare, says studies have
confirmed that teenage pregnancy is on the increase in Zimbabwe and a
leading cause of maternal mortality.
&com;Young girls are married off to men often older than their own
fathers. This scenario has significantly contributed to pregnancy
complications in teenage mothers. These harmful cultural practices are
rampant in some districts in the country,&com; she explained.
Nyamayemombe said apart from religious beliefs, poverty is one of the key
reasons for early marriages, as UNFPA data have shown that about 80
percent of pregnant teenagers come from poor families.
&com;Single adolescent girls who become pregnant are more likely to
drop out of school, thus compromising their future earning capacity and
becoming more likely to end in poverty. Maternal mortality and mortality
from HIV/AIDS related causes become a reality for these girls and often
lead or exacerbate poverty,&com; she added.
A pregnant teenager faces the risk of immature uterine muscles and mucous
membranes that pose serious danger and a high risk of a ruptured uterus in
cases of prolonged labour
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