By Mufaro Namusi
Child marriage is more than a ceremony or a cultural practice.
It is the theft of childhood.
It happens when a girl under the age of 18 is forced or pressured into marriage, often without understanding what it means and without the power to refuse.
Every year, approximately 12 million girls worldwide are married before they reach the age of 18.
That is one girl every two seconds. As you read this sentence, somewhere in the world, a girl has just lost her right to be a child.
Today, an estimated 650 million women alive were once child brides.
These are not distant figures from history books.
They are our neighbours, our relatives, our classmates and sometimes, our own sisters. Child marriage is not a problem of “somewhere else.”
It is a global emergency that continues in our villages, towns and cities.
Behind every statistic is a real child.
In parts of Africa, Asia and even within communities in Zimbabwe, girls as young as 13 or 14 are still being married off to older men.
Some leave school one afternoon and never return. Their uniforms hang unused on bedroom doors.
Their dreams quietly disappear.
Poverty remains one of the strongest drivers of child marriage.
For families struggling to survive, marrying off a daughter can wrongly feel like a way out. Some hope the husband will provide food, school fees for siblings or financial relief.
In reality, the girl moves from one form of poverty into another.
Without education or independence, she becomes trapped in dependence for life.
Gender inequality also feeds the crisis.
In many communities, boys are encouraged to dream, explore and lead, while girls are taught to obey, endure and serve.
A girl’s worth is often measured by how early she can become a wife rather than by her talents or intelligence.
These unequal expectations silence girls long before marriage is even discussed.
Harmful cultural beliefs continue to justify this abuse.
Phrases such as “a child must not talk back” or “girls are born to be wives” are still spoken with authority.
Culture is powerful, but when it harms children, it must be challenged. Tradition should protect the young, not place them in danger.
Teen pregnancy also pushes many girls into forced unions.
Instead of being supported through counselling, healthcare and education, pregnant girls are often married off to “save family dignity.”
In doing so, society punishes the girl twice — first with stigma, then with forced adulthood. She loses school, friends, safety and the right to grow at her own pace.
Perhaps the deepest wound of child marriage is betrayal by trusted adults.
In most cases, it is not strangers who arrange these marriages. It is parents, relatives, guardians and religious figures — people the girl depends on for protection.
The pain of being handed over by those meant to safeguard you leaves scars that last a lifetime.
The damage does not end at the wedding.
Most child brides drop out of school permanently. Their chances of ever becoming teachers, nurses, journalists, scientists or leaders fade away.
Early pregnancies expose their young bodies to life-threatening health risks, including childbirth complications, fistula and maternal death.
Many endure domestic violence in silence, believing suffering is part of being a “good wife.”
Instead of being cared for, they are expected to care for others. Instead of being protected, they are exposed to harm. Instead of choosing their lives, their lives are chosen for them.
Society’s silence makes the situation even more painful.
We raise our voices loudly for scandals, celebrities and politics, yet often whisper when a child’s future is being destroyed.
We watch as young girls disappear from classrooms into marriages and look away because it is “family business” or “tradition.”
Silence is not neutral. Silence protects the abuse.
Ending child marriage is not just the responsibility of governments and courts.
It is the responsibility of every parent, every teacher, every church, every community leader and every citizen.
Laws alone cannot save children if society refuses to enforce them with action.
Justice must also reach those who were already harmed. Survivors deserve more than sympathy. They deserve safe spaces, education opportunities, counselling, healthcare and economic support to rebuild their lives.
Many are strong women today, not because child marriage helped them, but because they survived it despite the odds.
For the girls growing up now, the story can change. It must change.
As a girl child, I have the right to education, to safety, to dignity and to dreams that extend beyond marriage.
I have the right to decide my future without fear, without pressure and without being traded for survival.
No tradition has the right to break a child.
No poverty should be solved using a child’s life.
No adult has the right to decide a girl’s destiny.
Generational cycles can be broken. They must be broken.
No means no.
My body, my life, my choice.
It is time for every girl’s voice to be heard.
It is time for every girl’s childhood to be protected.
It is time to say, together and without apology: Enough is enough.
Mufaro is a form two student at Ridgeway International School
