WUNRN
Malawi - Forced Child Marriage to
Older Man - Education Termination +
By Lameck Masina
She says
what pains her most is that she was victimised by the very people she believed
would protect her from any danger that would ruin her future.
But her
teacher says it is encouraging that Simpolokwe still performs well in class, and
is likely to fulfil her dream of becoming a nurse.
The fourth
of five children, Simpokolwe was one of the many victims of kupimbira – a
cultural practice in which parents arrange marriages between young girls and
older men to get money from a dowry – without the knowledge of the girl.
Sometimes
parents offer their girls to men as payment for debt. Kupimbira is an ancient
tradition practised by many tribes in northern
Belita’s
story is a tale of horror. "My stepfather ordered me to quit school and
get married to a 77-year-old man because he said I was too old for standard
four. I refused, and told him I wanted to continue with my education," she
says.
But her
refusal did not change anything.
"Soon
after that my stepfather began to send me to the market to collect money from a
certain gentleman, ranging from five to 10 dollars, some of which I would use
to buy food, then I would give the change my stepfather."
She says she
did not suspect anything untoward in getting the money from the man , as she
thought he was a relation of her stepfather’s. But to her surprise, three weeks
later the man came to her home with a garden hoe (traditionally, a garden hoe
represents dowry in most marital practices in northern Malawi).
"I was
very shocked when my stepfather asked me to receive it from the man (a girl
receiving the hoe from a man means accepting marriage). Confused, I objected.
"My
mother tried to reason with him that I was too young for marriage. But my
stepfather charged at my mother, saying he could divorce her if she continued
opposing his wish. He also said there was no objection, because we had already
‘eaten the money’ from the gentleman."
She was
forced to accept him, and after two weeks of marriage a group from the Chitipa
Women’s Forum came to her rescue. They convinced her parents of the need to
send her back to school. Simpokolwe, now living with her biological father,
says she is happy to be back at school. The Women’s Forum is a grouping of
women in her area who have volunteered to work with an Action Aid-funded
project known as Social Empowerment on Rights for Vulnerable and Excluded
Women.
The project
seeks to end harmful traditional practices that violate the right of women to
education.
Chairperson
of Chitipa Women’s Forum Ruth Mbale says the group visits the homes of parents
and victimised girls, and tell them of the need for the girls to go back to
school.
"As
women in this area we saw that since most women here did not go further in
their education, it was good to discourage early marriages and urge young girls
to proceed with education, taking advantage of government’s readmission policy,
which allows girls to go back to school," she says.
Mbale says
the major challenge is resistance from parents and sometimes chiefs, who insist
that they are too poor to meet the girl’s school needs.
"We
don’t really provide assistance to those who go back to school. But under such
circumstances we have set up a fund where members make monthly contributions.
This enables us to pay school fees for the girls whose parents or guardians
fail or refuse to assist," she says.
Mbale says
the girls undergo counselling by members of the forum through regular visits to
their homes, where they are asked to forget the past and forge ahead with
education.
Statistics
from an impact-assessment report show that the project has so far taken back to
school 40 girls aged between seven and 16, married through kupimbira in the
district.
Mbale says
the efforts have paid dividends, as some chiefs have realised the need to do
away with the practice, which she says not only hinders girls from continuing
with education, but also promotes HIV transmission.
Senior Chief
Mwaulambia says he is trying to end the practice in his area, although there are
still some families secretly continuing.
"Indeed
we accept that kupimbira is a bad practice, especially when we are told to
treat both girl and boy child alike. In my area I make sure it is being
suppressed very vividly. If someone is forcing a child into kupimbira, we as
chiefs have our own traditional ways of punishing our people. We may tell him
to pay a chicken. If he objects, we have powers to evict him from the
village," he says.
Other
traditional practices believed to violate the rights of women include ‘nhlazi’,
giving into marriage a young relative of the wife, as a reward to her husband
for being good to her family; ‘kulowa kufa’, sexual intercouse between a newly
widowed woman and a designated man to ‘cleanse the village of death’, and ‘fisi’,
hiring a man to engage in sex for the purpose of having children, especially
when the husband is impotent.
The project
is also being implemented in three other districts – Rumphi, Salima and
Chiradzulu.
Meanwhile
the
For example,
Forum for African Women Educationists in
Nsowoya has
hailed traditional leaders in the district for their help in the fight against
the malpractice.
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