The interlink between child marriage and human security: A case study of Burma Valley in Zimbabwe

- The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development underlines the importance of eliminating all harmful practices which include child marriage under SDG 5, which emphasizes gender equality and women and girl empowerment. Child marriage is a major threat to human security especially to young girls in developing countries. It ranks high as a Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and harmful practice. The research provides a guided vision and direction to policymakers in governments, universities and academia, migration practitioners, development agencies and communities to influence appropriate policy action to end the problem of child marriages. The research used the case study approach to investigate the interlink between child marriages and human security in the area of Burma Valley, Manicaland, Zimbabwe. A sample of 60 respondents consisting of key informants such as traditional leadership, Ministry of primary and secondary education, sports and culture, Ministry of health and child care and the Zimbabwe Republic Police participated in the research. The key findings of the research are that child marriages are mainly driven by proximity to the Mozambique border, agency of the girl child, high illiteracy levels, poor and mixed accommodation. The study assesses the current responses and policies to tackle the challenges of child marriage in Zimbabwe and makes recommendations of appropriate policy actions to end the problem of child marriage and protecting the