News / Local
Child marriages outlawed
20 Jan 2016 at 11:39hrs | Views
The Constitutional Court today outlawed controversial child marriages by ruling that no child in Zimbabwe should marry before attaining 18 years.
This is with immediate effect.
Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba ruled that the supreme law of the country sets 18 years as the age of majority.
The ruling by the ConCourt followed an application by two Harare women, Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi, who approached the court, through their lawyer Tendai Biti, seeking to challenge the Customary Marriages Act, arguing the said Act was infringing on the constitutional rights of young girls and boys who were getting married at an early stage.
The court also struck down Section 22 of the Marriages Act (chapter 5:11) which allows child marriages.
In December, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) estimates that without progress to prevent child marriages, the number of married girls in Africa will rise from 125 million to 310 million by 2050.
In Zimbabwe the social scourge has been on the agenda for a long time, but is still rampant among poor communities and certain ultra-conservative religious groups.
Zimbabwe has one of the highest rates of child marriages in Africa, with about 31% of girls being married before their 18th birthday and another 4% before they turn 15.
The country came under harsh international scrutiny following a statement by Prosecutor-General Johannes Tomana on the age of sexual consent.
There was a huge furore over his sentiments in which he said girls as young as 12 years could legally consent to sex exposing weak legislation and heightened the need for aligning it to the Constitution.
This is with immediate effect.
Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba ruled that the supreme law of the country sets 18 years as the age of majority.
The ruling by the ConCourt followed an application by two Harare women, Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi, who approached the court, through their lawyer Tendai Biti, seeking to challenge the Customary Marriages Act, arguing the said Act was infringing on the constitutional rights of young girls and boys who were getting married at an early stage.
The court also struck down Section 22 of the Marriages Act (chapter 5:11) which allows child marriages.
In Zimbabwe the social scourge has been on the agenda for a long time, but is still rampant among poor communities and certain ultra-conservative religious groups.
Zimbabwe has one of the highest rates of child marriages in Africa, with about 31% of girls being married before their 18th birthday and another 4% before they turn 15.
The country came under harsh international scrutiny following a statement by Prosecutor-General Johannes Tomana on the age of sexual consent.
There was a huge furore over his sentiments in which he said girls as young as 12 years could legally consent to sex exposing weak legislation and heightened the need for aligning it to the Constitution.
Source - Byo24News
