Govts Urged to Intensify Fight Against Child Marriage
Thursday 3 December, 2015 - 16:21
Development partners have urged the Zimbabwean government to be more aggressive in tackling child marriage, which is a serious violation of human rights.
According to Phyllis Mbanje, the country has conflicting legal provisions on the minimum age for marriage and its constitution does not expressly prohibit child marriage, and a number of laws effectively condone it.
Mbanje states that the gaps in the law, extreme poverty, poor access to education, and harmful religious beliefs and social norms fuel child marriage in Zimbabwe.