Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi,  two former young brides, have made history, winning a year-long courtroom battle to end child marriage in Zimbabwe.

The Constitutional Court in Zimbabwe ruled that section 22 of the Marriages Act is unconstitutional and therefore “no person, girl or boy should be married before the age of 18”.  From now on anyone found to be marrying a child under 18 will be breaking the Marriage Act and Customary Marriage Act and therefore breaching the country’s new constitution.

Shockingly, 15 million girls across the world marry before the age of 18 each year. That’s the equivalent of one every 2 seconds.

Plan International Zimbabwe’s Country Director, Lennart Reinius, says: “We welcome this landmark decision. Child marriage violates the fundamental human rights of girls and boys, but disproportionately affects girls. Girls are denied their right to a consensual marriage, as well as their right to an education, protection, economic engagement and reproductive health care.”

Zimbabwe has now become the second country in Africa after Malawi to outlaw child marriage. Previously, girls could get married at 16 in Zimbabwe, while boys could marry at 18. The constitutional court has also said that further illegitimate marriages which have taken place on cultural or religious grounds are unconstitutional.

A combination of poverty, gender equality and, a lack of child protection rights, as well as a lack of educational and employment opportunities underpin child marriage. If this law is to be successful in the long-term, more must be done to address societal attitudes towards child marriage and legislation which hampers girls’ progress.

Source: plan-uk.org