ABSTRACT
This chapter examines child marriage in Mabvuku, a high-density, low-income area in Harare, focusing on the lives of girl-brides. While not arguing against wide-ranging condemnation of child marriage, the chapter highlights the significance of a sensitive rendering of the perspectives, practices and agency of girl-brides. A troubled past and an uncertain future condition the everyday lives of many teenage girls in Mabvuku, and they are at a crossroads early in their lives. Reasons for child marriage in Zimbabwe vary, including poverty, limited education, peer pressure, religious beliefs and cultural practices. Some girls negotiate the tight space of restricted opportunities by entering into child marriage as a safety net, and therefore are not always compelled directly to enter into child marriages. In Mabvuku, prior to marriage, the girl-brides experienced emotional abuse, broken families, rejection, orphanhood, isolation and degrading labour. Many girl-brides turned voluntarily to marriage, on a tactical basis, to escape maltreatment and poverty, to pursue love and to start a family. Sacrificing their youth in exchange for love and acceptance (via marriage), however, did not lead to marital bliss.
