Understanding child marriage amongst girls with disabilities in Zimbabwe: Implications for an intersectional and gender transformative approach to ...

每年有1200万女孩在18岁生日前结婚。东部和南部非洲是全球童婚流行率第二高的地区，有5500万女童在儿童时期结婚，其中包括津巴布韦的140万女童。受有害的社会和性别规范的影响，童婚是一种复杂的做法，使性别不平等和歧视长期存在，使女童和妇女处于不利地位，无法充分实现其人生目标，无法过上没有暴力的生活，无法保障其权利。童婚及其对女童和妇女生活的不利影响在全世界引起了越来越多的关注。然而，在童婚与残疾的交集方面，仍然存在一个关键的证据缺口。残疾儿童的受教育权、福利权和健康权往往受到侵犯，包括社会羞辱、歧视和暴力。此外，基于性别和残疾的歧视交织在一起，使残疾女孩处于相当不利的地位，增加了她们遭受虐待和基于性别的暴力的风险，并使她们更难获得基本需求、服务和保护。然而，关于津巴布韦残疾女孩面临的具体风险或她们在童婚方面的需求，以及她们是否在应对和结束这种做法的倡议中被忽视，目前还没有明确的证据基础。这项研究将通过调查影响津巴布韦残疾女孩童婚经历的风险和保护因素，包括所需的支持服务，来解决这一差距。除了让人们看到在童婚讨论中很少听到声音的小群体女孩的观点外，该研究还将使以残疾女孩为中心的分析与童婚有关的主要风险和保护因素，从而为基于证据的政策和实践对策奠定基础。该项目将以批判性地参与女权主义方法论（包括女权主义残疾研究）为指导，其中：侧重于基于性别和残疾的不平等；重视残疾女童和妇女的经历和需要；他将研究视为父权转型的催化剂，并支持全球南方国家的女性赋权。在实地工作之前，将使用与女孩讨论时选择的定性参与性方法，对儿童基金会关于津巴布韦童婚和残疾的数据进行描述性分析，将她们定位为了解她们生活经历的专家，并将她们定位为为她们所面临的问题制定情境化解决方案的利益攸关方。该项目将与两个精通童婚研究和倡导的非政府组织合作，它们是罗扎里亚纪念信托基金（津巴布韦）和妇女难民委员会（美国/全球）。学生将共同制作至少2个基于证据的产出（例如，视频，儿童友好和可访问的资源，讲习班），并与合作伙伴和主要利益相关者（包括从业人员，政策制定者，研究人员和政府官员）进行内部和外部知识交流。调查结果将促进在社区、国家、区域和全球各级的童婚规划和宣传倡议中采用交叉和以女孩为中心的方法。除了提供关于这一主题的第一个证据基础外，该研究还将通过开展支持女童代表和参与结束童婚实践的研究，提高那些在童婚话语中没有被有意义地纳入的女童的声音。

Each year 12 million girls are married before their 18th birthday. Eastern and Southern Africa has the second highest prevalence of child marriage globally and is home to 55 million girls who were married during childhood, including 1.4 million girls in Zimbabwe. Influenced by harmful social and gender norms, child marriage is a complex practice that perpetuates gender inequality and discrimination, placing girls and women at a disadvantage to fully embodying their life goals, living a life free of violence and securing their rights. Child marriage and its adverse impacts on girls' and women's lives has garnered increased attention worldwide. However, a critical evidence gap remains on the intersection of child marriage and disability. Disabled children often face violations of their rights to education, wellbeing and health, including social stigma, discrimination and violence. Moreover, the intersection of gender- and disability-based discrimination renders disabled girls at a considerable disadvantage, increasing their risk of experiencing abuse and gender-based violence, and making it harder for them to access basic needs, services and protection. Yet, there is no clear evidence base about the specific risks that disabled girls in Zimbabwe face or what their needs are in relation to child marriage, and whether they are falling through the cracks within initiatives to respond to and end the practice. The study will address this gap by investigating the risk and protective factors which shape disabled girls' experiences of child marriage in Zimbabwe, including support services that are required. In addition to giving visibility to the perspectives of a sub-group of girls whose voices are rarely heard in child marriage discussions, the research will enable a disabled girl-centred analysis of the key risk and protective factors linked to child marriage to underpin evidence-based policy and practice responses. The project will be guided by critical engagement with Feminist methodology (including feminist disability research) which: focuses on gender- and disability- based inequalities; values the experiences and needs of disabled girls and women; and sees research as a catalyst for patriarchal transformation and supporting women's empowerment in the global south. Descriptive analysis of UNICEF data on child marriage and disability in Zimbabwe will precede fieldwork using qualitative participatory methods chosen in discussion with girls, positioning them as experts on their lived experiences and as stakeholders in developing contextualised solutions to the issues they face.This project will partner with two non-governmental organisations well-versed in child marriage research and advocacy, Rozaria Memorial Trust (Zimbabwe) and the Women's Refugee Commission (US/Global). The student will co-produce at least 2 evidence-based outputs (e.g., videos, child-friendly and accessible resources, workshops)and engage in internal and external knowledge exchange opportunities with partners and key stakeholders, including practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and government officials. The findings will promote intersectional and girl-centred approaches within child marriage programming and advocacy initiatives at community, national, regional and global levels. In addition to producing the first evidence base on this topic, the study will elevate the voices of girls who are not meaningfully included within child marriage discourse through generating research that champions their representation and participation in ending the practice.