Child brides in Tanzania miss out on education and risk violence and rape says report
Child marriage in Tanzania is seriously limiting girls' access to education and exposing them to violence, rape and exploitation.
That's the finding of a report by Human Rights Watch, which interviewed scores of girls, local activists, NGOs and government officials.
Four out of 10 girls in Tanzania are married before their 18th birthday and they are often pulled out of school. Human Rights Watch documented cases in which girls as young as seven were married.
The 75-page report 国产视频 'No Way Out国产视频: Child Marriage and Human Rights Abuses in Tanzania 国产视频 also found that girls who became pregnant or married were frequently expelled from school.
Human Rights Watch added: 国产视频淕irls who rejected or tried to resist marriage were assaulted, verbally abused or evicted from their homes by their families. Others, who were unable to escape marriage, described how their husbands beat and raped them and did not allow them to make any decisions in their homes. In Tanzania, there is almost no accountability for victims of violence related to child marriage and marital rape is not criminalised.国产视频
One interviewee called Sharon J. told how she was expelled when she was in her final year of primary school. She said: 国产视频淲hen the head teacher found out that I was pregnant, he called me to his office and told me 国产视频榊ou have to leave our school immediately because you are pregnant'.国产视频
Girls told Human Rights Watch their families forced them to marry so they could get dowry payments, because they did not value their daughters国产视频 education, the girls were pregnant or their families feared that they would become pregnant and bring dishonour to the family. Other girls said they saw marriage as a way out of poverty, violence, neglect or child labour.
Nineteen-year-old Anita国产视频檚 father forced her to marry at 16, during her second year of secondary school. She said: 国产视频淢y father said he did not have money to support my schooling. I then discovered that he had already received 20 cows as dowry for me.国产视频
Brenda Akia, women国产视频檚 rights research fellow at Human Rights Watch, is the author of the report. She said: 国产视频淭anzania国产视频檚 draft constitution unfortunately provides no minimum age for marriage. The Tanzanian government should show leadership on child marriage by making 18 the minimum age in the Marriage Act and providing stronger protections against child marriage.国产视频
Human Rights Watch has also called for the Tanzanian government to end pregnancy testing in schools and allow both pregnant and married students to remain in education.
Child marriage is one of the 100-day themes of the #EducationCountdown. You can read more about the campaign here.