AFRICANEWS

Zimbabwe

Forced marriages in Church end

Gender

For years the Apostolic Faith Church of Zimbabwe has sanctionedforced marriages in the church.But now after a long campaign by concerned women this practice has come to an end.

It seems God has finally smiled upon women of the Apostolic Faith Church of Zimbabwe, as they have won a longbattle they have been waging for years- that of abolishing the tradition of marrying away young girls to older men in the church. Thischurch has for decades upheld the tradition of marrying young girls born within the denomination to older church members who are mostly married. The victory according to sources was due to the pressure that was exerted by some `over-zealous women' of the church and the `changing times' which the church has found itself in recent times.

Bishop Xavier Chatanda, the vice-president of the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Africa admits that because ofthe changing times, his church has now realised that children forced into marriages are actually victims of child abuse. "We have come to realise through seriously studying some laws of the country that some of the tradition we are practicing in our church are abusing our children. A girl child just like a boy child has also the rights toher own wishes, to marry a spouse of her choice unlike the one her parents choose for her," explains the bishop. He adds that "Although this tradition still exists within our church, they are now very few such cases which we want to bring to an end. That way she would have exercised her own rights and will be a happy person all her life."

However Bishop Chatanda on the other hand, defends the now discarded practicesaying the church had adopted the practice and accepted it as it was viewed as a favour to the girl's family.

"It is like a family marries their daughter to somebody whom they know and trust, and who will actually pay the bride price and the girl child will still remain in the church, unlike being married to somebody who does not belong to the church and may be that marriage will not stay for long," he says.

But that is not how some of the victims see it.Netsai Marimo, 20 years old, and a mother of two daughters and already married to a church member who has two other wives regrets the whole experience. Now she regrets that she did not complete her own education because her father had married her to a manshe has never loved."I cannotregret leaving this old man at all because he is not of mychoice but that of my parent's choice. I am just staying herebecause it is the wish of my parents. Otherwise I would have left long back ago and start a new life. I am still young,." she says.

Inspite of her being in a loveless marriage she says she is now happy that her two daughters are safe due tothe new changeswhich states thatgirls have the right to marry or to choose their partners of their own choice.

Women in the Apostolic church admitthat they have neverlikedthe practice of marrying their daughters to older members of the church because some of these members did not pay the very bride price they charge and also they that they knew their daughters were not going to settle well with the older wives because of jealousies in the matrimonial household.

"We continued to tell the church leaders that if a girl is married to somebody she does not like there will not be love but hatred and thus those people will not stand well in the eyes of God,"saysMrs Massanga Chenukai one female member of the church who has been on the fore-front in fighting for the women's rights in the church.

"The men in the church have gone a long way marrying two to three wives thus promoting polygamous marriages which women of the church also did not like, but because of the culture they grew into they had to accept it silently," adds Chenukai. But some of themen still defend the already eroded privilege saying : " We view polygamous marriages as preventive measures against HIV/Aids and other transmitted diseases". To this Mrs. Chenukai says: "We are now saying a `BIG NO' to this practice in the church. Instead of building better relationships within the families they are actually bringing hatred which is a sin before the eyes of the Almighty God. "Our men should learn and adopt to new changes where they can stick to their only one wife.

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