VIOLATION AND ABUSE OF WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE CUSTOMARY PRACTICE OF ‘KUZVARIRA’ AMONG THE NDAU PEOPLE OF MOZAMBIQUE

Abstract

This paper examines the customary marriage practice of kuzvarira among the Ndau people of Mozambique. It investigates the perception of the Ndau people towards the customary practice of kuzvarira. Kuzvarira is a traditional customary practice of marrying off, without her consent, an underage girl (sometimes as young as eight or even before birth) to a rich man who already has another wife or wives in exchange for money, food and other arterial possessions that guarantee the girl’s family not to suffer acute economic deprivation ever again (Financial Gazette, 2/12/2004). To establish the receptivity of the traditional African marriage custom, kuzvarira, a study was conducted. Forty people (24 females and 16 males) from Manica and Sofala provinces participated in the study. Ad questionnaire comprising closed and open items was used as a data collection tool. The collected data was summarized by means of frequency tables and analyzed qualitatively using evaluative descriptions. The paper makes a critique of the practice of kuzvarira due to the prominence the subject has assumed in African philosophical discourses on human rights in recent years. Among the Ndau this is particularly so, because despite some mounting intellectual controversy over the practice, it continues unabated owing to a range of economic deprivation and gravating social circumstances. Our philosophical argument as substantiated by the results obtained is that kuzvarira is a psychological ‘death sentence’ meted on defenceless minors and is a gross violation and abuse of women’s human rights. Some African traditional societies particularly the Ndau tend to vindicate the elderly in the name of respect for the will of the custodians of culture and sacrifice the aspirations of the minors. In light of the HIV/Aids pandemic, the custom also Exposes young girls to the contraction of the deadly disease. Kuzvarira which still have a strong foothold and remain an integral part of the everyday lives of many.