Forced marriages deprive women the right to make personal choices
Julia Ndlela
Chiedza Moyo (34) says she was forced into marriage when she was 17 years old. The marriage was secretly arranged by her father and she says she only got to know about it when part of the bride price was already paid.
Although the marriage is still subsisting, Chiedza says it shattered her dreams and all her plans to embark on a career as a fashion designer hit a brick wall. She says the marriage deprived her of her right to choose a partner of her choice and to decide her own future.
“I grew up in Domboshava, a rural area about 30 kilometers away from Harare. My parents lived in Harare where my father was working. Stories of forced marriages are not common in Domboshava and I never thought I would be caught up in that situation,” says Chiedza.
Chiedza says after writing her Ordinary Level examinations, she went to Harare to join her parents. She says after a few days in Harare, she was informed by her mother that her father had accepted a proposal for her marriage from a neighbour’s son.
“When I got this information, I thought it was a joke because I did not even know the man who had made the marriage proposal. I just knew the family because they were neighbours. I was shocked a few days later when my aunt and some relatives came to make the final arrangement for my marriage,” says Chiedza.
Chiedza says the whole marriage plans were implemented without any input from her and she felt like she was just being sold.
“I was never given an opportunity to express my views about this marriage. My father had finalized everything and other relatives were just coming in to witness and endorse what he had decided. I cannot say his decisions were based on poverty because he was gainfully employed. Up to now I do not know why he treated me like a commodity,” says Chiedza.
It is now 15 years since Chiedza got married and she now has four children and is still married to her husband. Although she has no problems with her husband, Chiedza says she resents the marriage process and feels that it blocked her from pursuing her dreams.
Chiedza is just one of the many women and girls in Zimbabwe who are forced into marriage against their will. Girls, some as young as 12 are forced into marriage on religious or cultural basis. Bethu Tsunga the Director of Ithemba for Girls Trust says forced marriages deprive girls of the opportunity to engage in meaningful economic activities and subjects them to a life of dependency.
She says their chance at a better life is reduced and they are doomed to continue in a perpetual cycle of poverty with no hope of earning an income and be financial independent, which means they are financially dependent on their husbands which might lead to more chances of GBV and health complications at child-birth.
Ithemba for Girls Trust is an organization created to empower young women and girls in rural areas with knowledge and awareness of their rights and to equip them with life skills to strengthen abilities to develop themselves and their communities.
Bethu forced marriages have a lot of negative implications on the future of girls, especially because they are forced to abandon school.
According to Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency report of August 2021, 1 in 3 girls under the age of 18 are married and the large part of that percentage is forced marriage.
“We want parents to stop focusing on short term goals of receiving lobola but on long term achievement of their daughter completing her education,” says Bethu.
Bethu adds that her organization’s aim is to create awareness on the benefits of educated girls in a community instead of rushing into marrying off girls.
Tanyaradzwa Nhari(22) a Midlands State University student from Westview, Kadoma says forced marriages in Zimbabwe are experienced more by girls before they reach the age of 18 years who come from mostly vulnerable communities.
“Increased poverty, negative impact of prolonged Covid-19 Lockdown, religious practices and the increased activities of informal mining in Zimbabwe has increased the vulnerability of families and also created a fertile ground for child and forced marriages,” says Nhari.
