As we commemorate the day of the African Child it will be a misnomer to turn a blind eye on the role that has been played by child rights activist and Community based organization to support the African Child.Looking at this year’s theme, Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting children,it is important to note that the African Child deserve to be protected and respected. The harmful practices that the African Child is facing includes child marriages;virginity testing; child betrothal; the appeasement of avenging spirits only to mention a few. These practices often are inherited from ancestors, and continue to be perpetuated by generations.Child marriage is one of the most harmful practice that the African Child is facing. It hinders the children’s right to education as they will be forced to drop out of School to start a new life. It is sad that the children that has to seek for education for a better future are the ones that are turning out to be the victims of early child marriages. The sad part of it is that some of the children are failing to perform parental duties and as for the girl child a lot of recorded deaths has been a testimony to show the harmful practices of early child marriages.Some of the girls are not even old enough to take care of the babies and to cater for the family because they are being married at a very tender age . Hence showing that early child marriage is one of the harmful practice that is facing African Child.In most cases child marriages are arranged by the girl’s parents orguardians whose desires take precedence over the rights and interests of the girl child.
Child marriage takes away the fundamental rightsof the bride, and exposes her to abuse, violence and other forms of human rights violations. The girl child is robbed of her childhood, which is necessary to develop physically, emotionally and psychologically. Child brides fall pregnant at a tender age, and are forced to perform household and adult duties before they are emotionally, mentally and physically fit for these tasks. Early pregnancies result in birth complications. On the same note, child brides often give birth to premature babies, sometimes with a low body weight. Child brides often drop out of school to get married. Without education, a child bride’s life is bleak as she lacks the muchneeded enlightenment and information to survive in society and even to seek formal employment. Consequently, child marriage plays acentral role in increasing vulnerabilities on the married girl’s human rights. The long-term effects of child marriage include misery and a Under the kuzvarira practice, a girl child can be married off at a tender age orbefore they are even born.
The custom was widely practised before the colonial era when elders were able to accumulate young wives through pledging inexchange for grain during times of food shortages.Nowadays these practices, especially that of kuzvarira, come invarious dimensions, with some girls being sent as helpers and later on being taken as wives. In all these arrangements the parents of the girl child get roora or lobola from the groom.The kuripa ngozi practice is a noble way of appeasing the spirit of the dead bymarrying off a naive young girl. The avenging spirits are always offered a young girl as compensation. If a man kills a person, the spirit of the deceased is believedto return to haunt the family of the murderer and this spirit normally is appeasedby payment through a little girl even as young as four years from the family of themurderer. The girl becomes a slave and wife to a member of the deceased family.When virginity testing is done in the home, elderly women (the mother, aunt or the neighbour) can check the virginity of a girl child by inserting a finger into the vagina of the girl to see if the hymen still is intact. In some communities and cultures elderly women tasked with the job organise a ceremony or session where they conduct the procedure of inserting their fingers into young girls’ vaginas. The practice is prevalent in rural Zimbabwe, in some cases with blessings from traditional and religious leaders. Those in support of the practice are quick to provide its benefits as combating the spread of HIV, identifying children who are sexually abused by family members, preventing unwanted pregnancies amongst others. Conversely, thepractice remains detrimental to women’s enjoyment of rights as they are humiliated and undermined of their dignity and bodily integrity. More awareness campaigns should be be done to protect the African Child as well as Advocacy campaigns to protect the African Child on their rights.
An African child is vital and has to have peace and to be protected in all aspects of life.