As Malawi is observing 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV), there are calls for stakeholders in the country to rethink strategies on ending child marriages and teenage pregnancies. Deputy Director for Child Affairs in the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Affairs Justin Hamera says the country continues to face challenges in the area. Hamera also admits that the ministry is grappling with such cases, saying “every time we do assessments, the numbers are not encouraging”. According to Hamera, the cases rose to record levels during the Covid pandemic lockdowns, where around 20,000 girls got married within three months.
An assessment on teenage pregnancies also disclosed that about 45,000 girls got pregnant within the three months. “Statistics we get from councils also indicate that the numbers are, indeed, on the increase. We, therefore, need to rethink our approach to problems that teenagers are facing,” Hamera says. He says the Ending Child Marriage Strategy the ministry launched is one of the initiatives that are guiding the country on how to modify some harmful traditional practices. Hamera says the authorities are engaging traditional and religious leaders to influence behaviour change in their spheres of influence.
“But we also want to engage more with the adolescents themselves because, most times, they are influenced by their peers, with some girls going into sexual relationships just because their friends are doing it and are getting good things such as smartphones,” Hamera says.
Thandizolathu Kadzamira is Senior Technical Adviser on Child Protection at Save the Children and agrees that there is a need to rethink strategies to address the challenge of child marriages and teenage pregnancies. “First of all, we have social norms and religious beliefs which are still contributing to cases of teenage pregnancies and child marriage. Apart from that, poverty in Malawi is still a big problem and we find that marriage is, most of the times, looked at as a solution to poverty.
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“This is why we need to work together so that there is mindset change to address these challenges,” Kadzamira says. Sheikh Amir Jaafar
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Kawinga is an advocate for gender justice in Malawi. Kawinga says child marriages and teenage pregnancies can also be addressed through the use of role models. “We need to work together in the promotion of girls and young women who are doing better in life so that the teenage girls can see for themselves how education and hard
work can transform their lives,” Kawinga says.
Apart from poverty, recent studies show that most of the countries which are hotspots of climate change are also hotspots, in terms of child marriage.
“So, you will find that when there are disruptions such as floods, droughts, among others, due to climate change, the negative coping mechanism is for affected families or households to force their daughters into marriage,” Kadzamira says.
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To deal with the cases, however, girls themselves have to actively participate in activities.
Eighteen-yearold Deborah Mulichi of Akada Village, Traditional Authority Makwangwala, in Ntcheu District joined the fight against child marriages over a year ago.
Deborah says she was given a chance to pitch her idea with Save the Children on how to encourage girls and boys to continue with their education.
Through her ‘positive vibes, empowering teens to overcome peer pressure initiative, Deborah received K2.5 million from Save the Children to tackle sexual relationships, a leading contributor to teenage pregnancies in her area.
“My idea was to make the local telecentre at Bilira more accessible to the youth so that they could learn computer lessons after classes. Since then, the 35 targeted girls are now busy with their education and are doing well in class,” Deborah says.
Child marriages are mostly rooted in social and patriarchal attitudes that devalue girls and women, making them more vulnerable to early marriages than their male counterparts.
