Girls should not marry at the age of fourteen. Tanzania has understood this and overturned a low that allowed child marriage. United Nations has honored the country.
Lawyer Rebeca Gyumi received the UN human rights prize award and said, “This is a testament that girls, whereever they are, can by anything without limits.”
The 31-year-old added activists are striving to create an environment in the country in which parents don’t come and say a girl child that he has seen a husband for her.
Gyumi won a High Court ruling two years back in which the 1971 Marriage Act was updated with minimum age for girls and boys.
Gyumi said about forty percent of the girls in Tanzania married before reaching adulthood, before their 18th birthday.
She added that about 25 percent of the teenaged girls became pregnant in the age group of 15 to 19 and this led them dropping out from schools. In many cases the pregnant girls were expelled from schools.
Last year President John Magufuli said, “As long as I am president… no pregnant student will be allowed to return to school… After getting pregnant, you are done.”
Last month World Bank warned Tanzania to bar $300 million loan towards secondary education improvement if Tanzania does not demonstrates its commitment to girls’ education.
Gyumi warned that the problem persists not only in Tanzania, but in several other countries too.
She said, “In many places all over the world we are seeing the rising of fundamentalism, the rising of really repressive laws and legislation.”
