No To Child Marriages, More To Child Engagements

By Branton Matondo

A non governmental organisation in Gweru has rose in full length to say no to child marriages in the new normal hampered by covid 19 lockdown.

Speaking to this publication, Save The Family Trust marketing and social media marketer Nixon Nyikadzino said that the new normal has been a torrid time for many girl child’s and young lads looking at the fact early marriages has spiked to alarming levels.

“We say no to child marriages and child abuse. Depression being the major cause, most young people are lying idle at home, they are not occupied with school .

“So you find out that they spend most of their time with wrong people that influence them to be involved in sexual marital affair with adults.”

The organisation has been championing the fight against child marriages through social social media platforms. YouTube videos on marriages other educative content that helps people to achieve their goals has been dispatched on WhatsApp , Facebook (525 active participants) and LinkedIn accounts.

While Save The Family Trust has been moving with this line of societal campaigning, Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) Chairperson Virginia Muwanigwa while addressing Kwekwe journalists said that the spike of early child marriages and pregnancies have been there but the new normal has magnified the unfortunate trend.

“The school system has been greatly affected in Zimbabwe and in that case children have been left idle, with nothing to do and they end up having teenage pregnancies. There is great need of the marriage bill to be passed as an official law because as long as there is no specific guided law that denounces child marriages, then we have a huge problem,” she said.