The intricacy of religious indoctrination and girl-child marriages in the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church: the case of Memory Machaya in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Traditionally, religion was considered a haven where the heavy-hearted and broken would find solace and hope from unfortunate events such as violence, poverty and death. In recent years, literature has documented various cases where spiritual language has been used to normalize and persuade congregants into sexual relations that constitutionally translate to one form of
sexual abuse or the other. This study employs a document review methodology augmented by key informants to interrogate how religious indoctrination has contributed to the sustenance of child marriages in Zimbabwe. Using the 2021 Memory Machaya’s “14-year-old dies giving birth in a shrine” case, the study unearthed the abuse of spiritual authority by clergymen to manipulate congregants into child marriages. Further, supposed prophecies were used to
facilitate clergy sexual abuse. Some indigenous Apostolic sects were protective of their doctrine. While the government was reluctant to deal with Johanne Marange church, victims’ guardians also played a leading role in facilitating child marriages, making it difficult to seek justice for the victims. From a human rights perspective, the paper argues for regulation of religious sects to ensure compliance with the dictates of the constitution. Since laws are reactive, the author also advocates for robust sexual and reproductive health rights education to ensure an attitudinal change which desists from viewing women and the girl child simply through sexual and reproductive lenses. This aligns with the tenets of developmental social work, a profession credited as the legal vanguard for all children in Zimbabwe.