Marriage Act: Equal partners

Have you ever met a person for the first time and instantly know where there are from, or after spending time with someone their traits and start to point where they are from and their beliefs? That’s what culture does to human beings, it shapes our values, norms and perspectives about a lot of things.

One thing that society has shaped up in a rather funny and absurd way is the issue of women who are not formerly married and the children that they give birth to. If it so happens that you come into this world through the womb of a woman who was not been formerly married to your father then trust me you are going to be carrying that tag all the days of your life.  It is as if you belong yet you do not actually belong because once in a while either circumstances or people around you will constantly remind you of the circumstances that led to your birth.

Our culture actually has terms like mwana wemusango/umtwana wegangeni that actually set up children for isolation and exclusion.   “Kuchaya  mapoto” is also another common term that is used to refer to women who are not legally married to their partners. It is not only unfair that the mother is always held responsible for these children and the father goes scot free. The suffering of these children and women who gave birth to them is like a second skin that they can never run away from. Life actually gets worse when the husband or father passes away in most cases the woman and her children are left with nothing in worst cases not even a roof above their heads. Justification for this cruelty is the woman was not formerly married to the deceased hence she and her children could not benefit anything. This cultural set up has been causing problems for a lot of women for a very long time.

Recently the government of Zimbabwe, introduced the new marriage bill that received a lot of criticism from a lot of people. Funny thing is the same people who feel comfortable labelling others as vana vemusango which translates to bastard children are the ones who are complaining about the New Marriage Bill. Not that there is nothing wrong with being formally married but folks, isn’t it high time you get off that high horse and start treating everyone the same regardless of how they made it to this world. In as much as society might not be ready for this, the law of the land is definitely ready and this has been evidenced by the New marriage Bill which puts all marriages in Zimbabwe under one umbrella. 

This is a very progressive Act when it comes to the equal treatment of women and women empowerment. It is a blessing for those women who in the past have spent many years in secret relationships only to be left with nothing when the husband dies or simply decides to move on with another women which leaves the woman and children vulnerable. 

The new marriage Act is a blessing to all women including those that spend a life time with male lovers but fail to benefit from their estates upon their death or separation. Moreover, the Bill is good because it provides an opportunity to educate women that they are equal partners in marriages and those who are legally married cannot be deprived of what they would have worked for.

Feministry.