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Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has commended Government for the enactment of the Marriages Act No.1 of 2022, which, among its provisions, criminalises child marriages.

The Marriages Act was passed by Parliament and signed into law by President Mnangagwa in March.

“Recently passed into law, the Marriages Act is commendable because it unequivocally abolishes and criminalises child marriages and will hopefully if implemented, protect children particularly girls, who over the years have borne the brunt of the unlawful and despicable practice.

“Enactment of the Marriage Act is also laudable because it finally aligns the marriage laws of the country to a large extent with the Constitution and Zimbabwe’s obligations under international law. ZLHR hopes that the Marriages Act will be interpreted in a manner that guarantees the rights of women,” ZLHR said in a statement on Wednesday.

The organisation added that more still needed to be done in the fight against child marriages.

“In order to fully eradicate the scourge of child marriages from our society, the other two arms of government – the executive and judiciary need to commit to the effective enforcement of the law, which now criminalises child marriages as well as to enhance access to justice for children who may need protection of the courts.

“Such enforcement action entails the investigation and prosecution of all perpetrators of the unlawful practice without fear or favour.

Moreover, the courts should pro-actively invoke and apply the provisions of the Marriages Act in order to bring an end to the harmful practice of child marriages,” ZLHR said.

It called on Government to carry out nationwide programmes which are designed to raise awareness on the prohibition and criminalisation of child marriages and urged traditional leaders, such as chiefs and headmen to use their significant influence in their communities to ensure that the practice of child marriages is effectively eradicated.