Forced marriage has become rife in a small mining community of Mapombo, situated 60 kilometers north-east of Mutoko growth point.
The girls in this small remote community have been ascribed with a new role of ‘cash cows’ for their hand in marriage and families force them to get married as a way of eluding poverty. These girls also assume parental responsibilities of taking care of their siblings and they have to endure the struggles of motherhood at a very tender age.
Though the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly states that marriage should be entered only with the free and full consent of the intended partner(s); the girls in this community are being forced into marriage which is a defilement of their rights.
Those with the means (the illegal panners) exploit the poverty stricken families and take their young girls as wives in exchange for gold.
Florence*, barely 15 years of age and who is 6 months pregnant told us of her ordeal,and how she dropped out of school and had to engage in gold panning. She, later on, was forced to get married as a way to fend for her family.
“I left school when I was in grade 4 and joined the panning field; my parents are too old and so it’s my duty to look after them; panning was not doing so well and I had to get married to a local gold panner,” said Florence.
Florence’s story is one of many girls who as a result of poverty and pressure from family members have ended up giving into marriage to elderly men as a way to make ends meet for their families.
“The villagers main source of income is panning; with miners of this exquisite and prized mineral taking advantage of the prevailing economic hardships and take the young girls as wives; a girl can be forced into marriage at the age of 14 or 15 and the parents do not take into consideration the effects that this has on the child,” said Antony Nyamuda a University student who resides in Mapombo.
The majority of  girls in this remote community either engage in panning as they wait to become ‘ripe’ (as seen in the eyes of the parents) and forced into marriage at tender ages as a way to evade poverty.
Born in an era where an economy is crumbling, the girls are being exposed to a raft of dangers; which range from forced marriages and infection to HIV Aids.
Lack of cognizance amongst the community members in this area has seen society ascribing the girl child with a new role of bread winner and as a way of eluding poverty.
“It is very common for a girl to leave school before sitting for her O’level examinations and get married; the majority of these girls will be very young; aged between 14 and 17; in most cases they are forced by their parents,” said Chenai Makahamadze; a Guidance and Counselling teacher at Mapombo Secondary School.
Chenai explained how an enormous number of girls in this area had been forced to drop out of school and forced into marriage to elderly men who put them at risk of contracting HIV and Aids as a result of multiple sexual partners.
As indicated in a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) survey carried out early this year; 31% of girls in Zimbabwe under the age of 18 are forced into marriage and half of these girls are married off at the age of 15.
 
Names of victims in the above article have been changed to protect identity