See my post on female-genital-mutilation-kenya the-traditional-role-of-woman-in-modern.society empowering-woman-is-empowering-nation.
An estimated 23% of girls are married before their 18th birthday in Kenya.
Child marriage rates vary across regions, with the North Eastern and Coast regions having the highest rates, while the Central region and Nairobi have the lowest rates.
Many girls in rural parts of Kenya are often perceived by their families as either an economic burden or valued as capital for their exchange value in terms of goods, money and livestock.
To justify these economic transactions, a combination of cultural, traditional and religious arguments are often employed.
However it doesnt change the fact that young girls are viewed as a means to an end. Poverty as well as lack of education remain the highest factors contributing to child marriage
.
As 67% of women aged 20-24 with no education married as a child, in comparison to 6% of women with secondary education or higher.
As 67% of women aged 20-24 with no education married as a child, in comparison to 6% of women with secondary education or higher.
Women living in rural areas are twice as likely to be married under age 18 than women living in urban areas. This urban-rural divide has increased by 36% since 2003.
LEGAL AGE OF MARRIAGE
In March 2014, the parliament adopted the Marriage Act 2014 which introduces a uniform minimum age of marriage, set at 18 for both women and men.
Importantly, the new legislation applies to all forms of marriage including Islamic and customary marriages.
if current trends in child marriage continue, the number of girls under 15 years giving birth in Africa is expected to rise from 2 million to 3 million a year by 2030. “If we do nothing, in the next decade over 14 million girls under 18 years will be married every year,” she said.
Human rights violations
FGM and child marriage are human rights violations as they deprive girls and women of the right to decide their own futures and control their own bodies and their sexuality.
FGM (female genital mutilation) and child marriage are health issues. Child marriage results in teenage pregnancy; the leading causes of maternal deaths and injuries for girls aged 15 to 19 are pregnancy and childbirth. It also contributes to high rates of obstetric fistula, premature births, sexually transmitted diseases (including cervical cancer), HIV and domestic violence..
With the rife of HIV in Kenya . It means that young married girls are particularly at risk. As majority of them are married off to men older than them . Who often die before they know it is HIV/AIDS. Robbing them of their lives .Robbing the country of talent and skill.
Although we live at a time we can openly talk about this and more and more awareness is being created it is still a big problem as .The practice os still carried out in secret . Young girls are robbed of a future and forced to accept traditional roles.
Their voices are silenced and their freedoms taken away from them. Young girls become mothers .Young women become wives before they are ready for it.
As a result of being stripped of their rights and freedoms. They are forced into accepting a life they have not chosen and often end up being abused .As they have no where to turn to..These young girls often feel trapped without any education they cant stand on their own. Without support they are left to deal with the scars that remain on their own.
It is our job to ensure that they get to choose what happens to them.
.........continued in my next post
Sign up via email to receive. It or follow my twitter of facebook page and you will be notified
