Transforming Masculinities for Gender Equality and to End Child Marriage
MORE THAN 20% OF GIRLS AGED 15-19 ARE CURRENTLY IN A UNION/MARRIED IN ZIMBABWE.
Highlights
Despite a slight overall reduction in child marriage over the past twenty years, child marriage rates in Zimbabwe remain high: more than 20% of girls aged 15-19 are currently in a union/married. There is a sharp rural-urban divide: two in five women aged 20-24 got married before age 18 in rural areas compared to one in five in urban areas. Child marriage in Zimbabwe is driven by poverty and fuelled by religious beliefs, particularly followers of the Apostolic faith whose beliefs require girls to marry between the ages of 12 to 16 to prevent sexual relations outside marriage. Among girls aged 15-19, girls living in poorer households are six times more likely to be married or in union than girls in the richest households.
