Call for robust laws to tame child marriage in Comesa region
Marsabit girls who underwent FGM. They are then married off. A new study has called for the enactment of robust legislative and policy frameworks to tackle the high rate of child marriage in Eastern and Southern Africa.
What you need to know:
- Study says the laws should contain provisions for the protection of children.
- For instance, they should set the minimum age of marriage at 18 for both boys and girls without any exception.
A study has recommended robust legislative and policy frameworks to tackle the high rate of child marriage in Eastern and Southern Africa.
It proposes national laws that are clear, consistent, and in line with international human rights standards. The study has been undertaken by the United Nations Population Fund, Equality Now and the African Union, Southern African Development Community (SADC).
These laws, the report says, should contain provisions for the protection of children, for example, setting the minimum age of marriage at 18 for both boys and girls without any exceptions, and eliminating parental or judicial consent.
“However, for these laws and provisions to be effective in contributing to the eradication of child marriage, gender experts argue that they need to be implemented in earnest,” the report reads.
Also read: Unicef: War on child marriage far from over
However, for these laws and provisions to be effective in contributing to the eradication of child marriage, gender experts argue that they need to be implemented in earnest.
It is not all gloomy as the report notes that so far, there has been some uptake of the model maw within the region, with several countries having incorporated the provisions in their laws or administrative procedures.
And while the model law is primarily applicable to countries in the SADC region, the study notes that many East African countries have also incorporated international and regional human rights standards in their legislative frameworks towards ending child marriages.
Training and sensitisation
The report is calling on states to conduct continuous training and capacity-building of relevant stakeholders. This includes law enforcement officials, judicial officers, child protection and social welfare personnel, healthcare workers and education personnel.
The training should be conducted in a systematic way for new personnel and continuous education for existing ones, and should include sensitivity to handling child marriage survivors, correct information on the effect of child marriage, as well as tackling prejudices.
The states are also encouraged to create peer and community support groups for children at risk of child marriage, in marriage or returned from marriages.
“These groups can be in the form of voluntary groups utilising existing community structures like church groups, cooperatives, and burial societies. They can be trained to correct misinformation on child marriages and equipped with skills to deal with the myriad of challenges these children face emotionally and physically,” the report adds.
In Kenya, 23 per cent of girls are married before their 18th birthday and 4.0 per cent before the age of 15. About 3.0 per cent of boys are married before the age of 18, with child marriage rates varying across regions and among ethnic groups.
Eastern and Southern African has some of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with about 31 per cent of young girls being married before the age of 18.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, a staggering 40 per cent of girls marry before age 18, with African countries accounting for 15 of the 20 countries with the highest rates of child marriage. Data shows that 77 per cent of girls in Niger and over 60 per cent of girls in Central African Republic and Chad marry before they turn 18.
