DODOMA, 10 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - The Tanzanian government is
reviewing the country's Marriage Act with the aim of raising girls' age consent
for marriage from 15 to 18 years, Deputy Justice and Constitutional Affairs
Minister Mathias Chikawe has said.
"The Law of Marriage Act of 1971
allows the marriage of girls at the age of 15 years; at this age the girls are
still biologically and psychologically immature," Chikawe, said. "It is for such
reasons that we are now in the process of reviewing that
legislation."
Chikawe said the current Marriage Act was in conflict with
several other local and international legal provisions. He was responding to a
question on Thursday by a legislator, Lucy Owenya, who had expressed concern
over the provision in the statute allowing marriage of girls under the age of
18.
Chikawe said marriage of under-age girls undermined their development
by denying them the opportunity for further education. It also exposed them to
risks of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and complications during pregnancy or
delivery, she added.
She said the practice violated the human rights of
individuals and was biologically risky. "We are aware of dangers associated with
pregnancy of premature women that include deformation of the body and other
complications," Chikawe said.
A recent study by the Tanzania Media Women
Association shows a strong correlation between HIV/AIDS, early school dropout
rate, teenage marriage and pregnancy. The association blamed the law that allows
under-age girls aged to marry with parental consent.
The study, based on
pregnant adolescent girls attending hospitals in the densely populated
southeastern Coast and central Morogoro provinces, noted that the girls'
husbands "characteristically have had multiple partners, which puts the girls at
the risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS".
Immature and financially
dependent, the adolescent brides are unlikely to be able to negotiate for safer
sex, the study said.
"The girls are too young and ignorant about the
importance of knowing their HIV/AIDS status, and lack the courage to convince
their partners to know their sero-status," Upendo Mwinchande, the director of
the AIDS Business Coalition of Tanzania, said.
Although 76.6 percent of
the TAMWA study sample was aware of the risks posed by HIV, most of the
expectant girls were married and refused to undergo HIV tests, even after
counselling. Over six percent of those tested were found to be HIV-positive,
just one percent below the national prevalence
rate.
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