Zambian Government Moves to Make Child Marriage a Criminal Offence

The Zambian Government has released a statement saying that it is in the process of reviewing a law governing marriages. The aim is to make child marriages a criminal offence. This information was delivered by the Minister of Gender, Victoria Kalima, who says that child marriages have continued despite all that they have done to stop it, however tremendous progress has been made on the new prospect of the law.

“We are harmonising the Marriage Act because the constitution states something else. We want to harmonise the age of a child, Criminalising child marriages would help to deter parents or guardians from marrying off underage children for fear of being jailed” she added

Today reports that Zambia has the highest number of child marriages rates in the world. This has been the norm, especially in rural parts of the southern African nation. 42 percent of women aged 20 to 24 years have been married off before they reached 18 years.