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Patriarchal nature of our society adversely affecting children's rights
Justice for Children Trust
June 29, 2010

Justice for Children Trust's work has been centred on its call for the respect, protection and promotion of children's rights as human rights. Respecting, protecting and promoting these rights involve the enforcement and implementation of existing laws and policies. Laws are made by the legislature for purposes of forcing adherence to not only international legal frameworks, but even national laws as well. It is disappointing that children's and women's rights have been relegated to the dustbin even where the law is on their side, in most cases further exposing their vulnerabilities and disadvantaging them. That may not be tolerable in a democratic and progressive society.

JCT has dealt with a number of cases where women seek legal recognition of their guardianship status in regard to their children. Most of these women are single parents who were either in unregistered customary law unions with the fathers of their children or never had any other relationship with the fathers of their children other than sexual encounters that resulted in the birth of the children. These women are supporting their children single-handedly, with no assistance whatsoever from the children's fathers. In most cases, the only distinguishing mark for the child is the existence of the father's name on the child's birth certificate. One may ask why the father's name would appear on the child's birth certificate if the father has no relationship with both the mother and the child. Experience with such issues has shown that the major reasons are to do with the patriarchal nature of our society, ignorance of the provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, and society's attitude towards children generally.

In one such case, JCT was consulted by a woman whose minor child had been selected by a local community based organization to represent Zimbabwe in a prestigious soccer tournament in Madrid, Spain. She approached the Registrar General's office to obtain a passport for her son. She was told that only the father could do so. She was also advised that in the event of her failing to get the father, she should bring court authority for her to sign Section 5 of the passport application form. In this particular case the client had been in an unregistered customary law union with the father who had since moved to South Africa to seek employment. She is legally and naturally the child's guardian by virtue of her not having been legally married to the child's father. This legal fact did not help her at all with the office of the Registrar. JCT represented her in making an application for a declaratory order at the High Court that would grant her the authority to sign Section 5 of the passport application form. The order was granted by the High Court, to the relief of the client, but her woes were far from over. The Registrar General indicated that he still wanted to talk to the father even after the client had made it clear that he would not return to Zimbabwe before the soccer tournament. She was finally allowed to apply for her son's passport.

In a decided case that JCT has always been quoting in its correspondence with the Registrar's office over similar issues, Katedza vs Chunga HC no. 1043/03, the High Court stated that where a child is born in an unregistered customary law union, the father's consent is not required because the mother is considered the child's guardian for purposes of general law. Failure to respect the law over such issues definitely prejudices children unnecessarily. This results in blatant violation of their rights to movement and therefore denying them activities that are important in their development. Putting the rights of a father, who may not be interested in the welfare of the child he fathered first, does not serve the best interests of that child. It is our call that the laws in place should not be misinterpreted in order to suit individual interests, especially where it violates children's rights.

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