Women and Law in Southern Africa and Equality Now Call for Urgent Legal Reform to Support Child Marriage Survivors in Zimbabwe
A new study commissioned by Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA) (https://WLSAZim.co.zw/), with support from Equality Now (https://apo-opa.co/4kxQG3t), has found that although Zimbabwe has introduced commendable legislative and policy measures to prevent child marriage, survivors still face significant challenges. WLSA and Equality Now (www.EqualityNow.org) are calling upon the Government of Zimbabwe and relevant stakeholders to provide enhanced protection and support by strengthening legal, institutional, and policy frameworks, particularly for those already affected by child marriage.
An Analysis of the Laws and Policies in Place for the Protection and Support of Victims/Survivors of Child Marriages in Zimbabwe: A case Study for Epworth’ (https://apo-opa.co/3FGxQrC), features valuable insights from child marriage survivors and civil society organisations interviewed in Epworth, a densely populated settlement in Harare with over 200,000 residents. Widespread poverty, limited access to public services, and lack of access to information, legal support, and protection accountability contribute to persistently high rates of child marriage in the community.
The accompanying policy brief, ‘Imperative Legal, Policy and Institutional Reforms for Enhanced Support and Protection of Child Marriage Victims and Survivors’ (https://apo-opa.co/3FGxQrC), summarises gaps in laws and other measures identified in the study, and puts forward key recommendations for legal reforms.
Survivors of child marriage experience numerous difficulties, including susceptibility to gender-based violence (GBV), extreme poverty, and a lack of access to education, employment, and income. Stigma, low acceptance from their own families, obstacles in obtaining birth registration certificates for their children, and inaccessible and unaffordable maternal, sexual, and reproductive health and psychosocial support services are also critical challenges they experience.
Without comprehensive and adequately resourced support mechanisms, along with awareness raising about legal protections and available services, child marriage will continue to have life-long lasting and irreversible effects on survivors, their families, and the wider society.
Zimbabwe’s legal commitments on child marriage
With an estimated 34% of girls married (https://apo-opa.co/4kkQOmJ) before age 18, Zimbabwe ranks among the top 20 countries in Africa with the highest prevalence of child marriage. To address this, Zimbabwe has made significant commitments through national legislation, regional instruments, and international treaties.
The Marriages Act (Chapter 5:17), enacted in 2022, sets 18 as the minimum legal age of marriage without exceptions and prohibits child marriage. Additionally, Zimbabwe’s Constitution (Amendment No. 20, 2013) protects against forced marriage by mandating that “no marriage is entered into without the free and full consent of the intending spouses.”
The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act and the Children’s Act impose penalties for child exploitation and abuse. The National Gender Policy (2017) and the National Development Strategy (2021–2025) reflect a rights-based approach to gender equality and child protection.
Regionally and internationally, Zimbabwe has ratified key instruments, including the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Maputo Protocol, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Zimbabwe has also domesticated the SADC Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children Already in Child Marriage. These instruments underscore the country’s legal commitment and moral obligation to uphold children’s rights and ensure free and informed consent in marriage.
Highlighting the urgency of the issue, Isheanesu Chirisa, WLSA National Director, stated: “Child marriage is a gross human rights violation that does not get nearly enough attention in Zimbabwe. It robs girls of their lives and futures.”
Zimbabwe must update its legal frameworks on child marriage
While these positive legal and policy commitments are commendable, WLSA and Equality Now are concerned that such efforts have not been matched by adequate support systems addressing the trauma and systemic disadvantages that survivors of child marriage face.
The study highlights how some policy and legal frameworks are outdated, and there is an absence of a comprehensive support framework, inconsistent sentencing for perpetrators, and a lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services. Delayed policy updates and education reforms further disadvantage survivors, making it difficult for affected girls to return to school.
For example, the Marriages Act, the Children’s Act, and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act contain provisions that criminalise child exploitation and abuse. However, Zimbabwe’s legal and policy framework fails to provide meaningful protection, legal remedies, or access to essential services for survivors of child marriage.
In addition, while the National Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Coordination Forum applies a multi-stakeholder approach to combat GBV, including providing support to child marriage survivors, its effectiveness is hampered by underfunding, inadequate resources to coordinate meetings with forum members, and duplication of work alongside overlapping and unclear mandates between government ministries and other organisations.
Since the lapsing of the National Action Plan on Ending Child Marriage in 2021, a new national action plan has yet to be adopted, affecting the implementation of laws and policies on child marriage.
As highlighted by Dr Mavis Sibanda, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development; speaking at a launch event for the study on May 27, 2025, in Harare: “Child marriage explicitly indicates unequal power dynamics in Zimbabwe. This perpetuates an inter-generational cycle of poverty, limiting women’s and girls’ access to education and leadership. Unfortunately, few manage to come out of these marriages.”
Recommendations for legal and policy reform
In light of the study’s findings, WLSA and Equality Now urge the Government of Zimbabwe to take urgent and coordinated action to eliminate child marriage and better support survivors as follows:
- Reform laws on child marriage to fully align Zimbabwe’s national law with the SADC Model Law on Child Marriage (https://apo-opa.co/4kxQG3t).
- Introduce a dedicated child marriage law, incorporating provisions for healthcare, legal assistance, and survivor support.
- Strengthen property and inheritance rights for child marriage survivors.
- Amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act to require fathers to be registered on birth certificates of children born outside of wedlock or in unregistered customary unions.
- Update the Termination of Pregnancy Act (15.10) to allow the termination of a pregnancy in any case involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.
- Increase public awareness about the law on child marriage, and educate demographics at risk about their rights, how to report violations, and available support services.
- Implement sentencing guidelines to ensure consistent and appropriate penalties for child marriage and GBV.
- Reinstate and fund a comprehensive National Action Plan on Ending Child Marriages, drawing lessons from Malawi and Uganda.
- Adopt a National Gender Policy that recognises child marriage as a development issue within the upcoming National Development Strategy (NDS-2).
- Provide community actors with the resources and training needed to deliver localised support.
- Strengthen access to legal aid and ensure education policies allow and support girls to return to school after pregnancy.
WLSA and Equality Now are committed to supporting legal reforms and multi-stakeholder interventions towards a world free from child marriage, with comprehensive support mechanisms at all levels to support survivors of child marriage.
Sally Ncube, Equality Now’s Regional Representative for Southern Africa, concludes: “Zimbabwe has made great strides in recent years to domesticate and implement the SADC Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children already in Marriage. There is a need to do more to ensure comprehensive legal protection and support measures for survivors of child marriage, to empower and support already married girls as they continue to be exposed to gender-based violence, poverty, trauma, and exclusion.
“Strengthening implementation, enforcement, and oversight mechanisms will ensure laws and policies provide child marriage survivors with access to justice, healthcare, education, safeguarding, and livelihood support.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Equality Now.
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About Equality Now:
Equality Now (www.EqualityNow.org) is an international human rights organisation dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of all women and girls worldwide. Its work is organised around four main program areas: Achieving Legal Equality, Ending Sexual Violence, Ending Harmful Practices, and Ending Sexual Exploitation, with a cross-cutting focus on the unique challenges facing adolescent girls.
Equality Now combines grassroots activism with legal advocacy at the international, regional, and national levels to achieve systemic change, and collaborates with local partners to ensure governments enact and enforce laws and policies that uphold women’s and girls’ rights. For more information about Equality Now, visit www.EqualityNow.org.
About Women and Law in Southern African Research and Education Trust (WLSA):
Women and Law in Southern African Research and Education Trust (WLSA) (https://WLSAZim.co.zw/) Zimbabwe started as a local Chapter of a sub-regional network in 1989. WLSA is now registered and operates as a Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) in Zimbabwe. The network member countries include Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia.
The purpose of the network is to contribute to the sustained well-being of women and girl children through action-oriented research in the socio-legal field and advocating for women’s rights. WLSA work incorporates action into research by questioning and challenging the law, instigating campaigns for changes in laws, policies and plans of action, educating women and girls about their rights, providing legal advice and gender sensitising communities and leadership.
