The violation on her body and mind leaves lasting effects that can never be erased. Exchanged for money or to fulfill a customary obligation like a mere commodity, her life becomes one endless ordeal after another. She struggles to deal with being saddled with responsibilities and intrusions on her body that even nature had not fully prepared her anatomy for.
The impact of child marriages and teenage pregnancies is a serious recipe for psychological trauma to the victim.
This was confirmed by former Minister of Health and Child Care and medical practitioner Doctor Henry Madzorera.
“Child brides start having babies as soon as they are married, they usually get pregnant early because they must prove their worth. They must prove that the lobola paid to their parents is worth it so you see them getting pregnant year after year. That alone takes a toll on their health and psychologically they begin to feel older, they begin to associate with older women. They have been deprived of a chance to play, a chance to be children and this is the chance they will always miss the rest of their lives. Their mindset will never be normal because they always feel they missed on something and given the chance they will go to play because they were graduated to adulthood before their time,” he said.
Gender Activist and Katswe Sisterhood Kwekwe District Coordinator, Chengetai Chininga said most of the teen mothers have lost hope for the future and they face many forms of abuse in the hands of their abusers which affects their psychological health. “Most of these teen mothers face societal isolation which can result in stress and depression because they would not have done what the society expects of them so they face exclusion. We have also realised from the women we have worked with that they lose hope for the future. In some of the sessions we had with teen mothers and we asked them to portray in the form of art what they hope for in the next five years or so some of them do not have anything else except taking care of their children,” she said.
Dr. Madzorera also reiterated that teenage pregnancy is a burden to the child’s mindset. “Giving adult responsibility to little 12, 13, 14 year old’s is very heavy on their minds because they are not yet ready for it psychologically. Usually children who get married off early are married off to an old person perhaps ten or twenty years older than them. Psychologically one cannot spend time with a husband who is twenty years older than her and discuss anything meaningful together because their mindset is too different. They have nothing to talk about, they have no social life and they only thing they do is stay indoors and make babies without negotiations,” he pointed out.
Research has shown that child brides are more prone to being abused and violated by their partners. The abusive relationships further diminish their self-esteem they seize to see themselves as important but rather as possessions who only have to do as they are told. “These girls face violence from their spouses because they are still young and are not able to meet the expectations of a woman and a mother. They end up facing physical and sexual abuse and that affects their psychological health,” Chengetai said.
In addition Dr. Madzorera talked about the lifetime physical health implications associated with child pregnancies. “Physically they are not yet ready to carry a baby if they do not die because of the pregnancy they may develop obstetric fistula. This causes the vaginal tissue either in front or towards the bladder or backward towards the rectum to go necrotic and a hole will form. That hole will cause urine to leak continuously or feaces to leak continuously for the rest of their life. This affects the young girls psychologically because they will be smelling most of their time such that they will choose to isolate themselves from others to avoid embarrassment causing depression.
Child marriages and teenage pregnancies cases are on the rise in Zimbabwe due to various factors that include poverty and religious beliefs.