Zimbabwe has officially outlawed child marriage following the brave forward-looking action of two Harare women, Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi who applied and approached the court through their lawyer, Tendai Biti. They challenged the Customary Marriages Act with an argument that the said act was infringing on constitutional rights of youngsters who were being married
The latest ruling came about following a case brought by two women who claimed they got married before they were 15.
According to Zimbabwean constitution, a marriage is only legal when both partners are above the age of statutory age of 18.
Papers filed by the plaintiffs disclosed that 25,000 children get married in Zimbabwe every year.
Lawyer Tendai Biti who represented the two women said that a precedent had been set by the case. Many Zimbabwean children are pushed into early marriage because of poverty.
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