Parents Must Be Involved in Ending Child Marriage

Malawi continues to register increased numbers of child marriages despite coordination between various organisations, government entities and individuals to end the vice.

The girl child is still being regarded as a commodity, as some parents continue to marry them off in exchange for what they think will be a ‘good life’, which mostly never comes to pass. These parents falsely believe these marriages will help lift them out of poverty and help them get ahead. They often see child marriage as a solution to a problem.

According to a public letter issued by the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, 13,000 child marriage cases were reported in 2020 compared to 9,000 cases in 2019 and 6,000 cases in 2018.

The letter called on traditional leaders to register all marriages and prevent child marriages, and said that all sexual offences should be settled by police, not by chiefs’ courts.

Speaking during the third and final series of TV programs titled Ending Child Marriage in Malawi; A Call to Action, Group Village Head Chibwana from senior chief Mlonyeni’s area in Mchinji District said bylaws alone are failing to save the girl child from early marriages.

“Mindset change is what we need,” he said. “Due to the cultural setup in our communities, it is sometimes hard for leaders to punish their own relations, hence the need for all of us to resist marrying off our children and encourage them to go to school.”

He added that parents should start discussing sex and sexuality issues with their children because aside from harmful traditional practices, child upbringing is also contributing to the rise in child marriage cases.

“In the past we indeed had harmful cultural practices that made young girls vulnerable to child marriage but as of late things have changed. For example in my community, no girl child has been married off due to traditional practices; it is all happening because parents have lost control of their children, and this needs to be handled with haste before things go beyond where we are now.”

He suggested that aside from targeting the girl child, there is also a need to incorporate the boy child and men in various policies and initiatives as they are the perpetrators of child marriage.

Said Chibwana: “Let us also involve men and boys as much as possible. We have tried targeting the girl child forgetting who is causing the problem. So it is my plea to government and organisations to also consider the boy child whether on sensitisation so that they also should change their attitude towards this subject.”

In his remarks, Ministry of Youth and Sports Adolescent Young Women and Girls (AYWG) secretariat national coordinator Mahara Longwe said efforts to end child marriages in Malawi are indeed on the right course.

“Various ministries are working together to make sure we protect the girl child. Without coordination, we will be fighting a lost battle which can easily be won if we hold hands,” he said. “As such, we are working together to make sure that no child is married off at a tender age.”

Longwe said existing structures in communities, such as mother groups, should be empowered for them to be able to easily follow up cases of child marriages. He didn’t indicate what authority these groups should have to help reduce these marriages.

“Also if we see that society norms are fueling child marriages, we can try to change them because we have failed to eliminate them completely,” he said.

Foundation for Girls Leadership founder Memory Banda said her passion to fight child marriages started when she saw her sister being married off at the age of 11.

“She was so young. She had just come out from an initiation ceremony when she found out she was pregnant by a grown up man months later. My parents literally forced her to an early marriage which turned out to be an abusive one,” she said.

“Lucky for her, after years of being married she came back home, but this is an opportunity which most girls out there are missing. They are still stuck in marriages which at first were not even supposed to occur.”

Banda insisted that if a girl child is empowered she would be able to say no to marriage and would know where to report if parents or guardians are forcing her to go that direction.

“Attitude change is what we need. If a family is poor, let us come up with initiatives to help them. Marrying off their children is not a means to an end. The poverty they want to alleviate does not end at all just because their girl child is married. So I believe poverty should not rob the bright future for most Malawian girls,” she said.

During the three part TV series, issues of existing laws that deter child marriages in Malawi and how they are being used to protect the girl child were discussed. The program, organized by the U.S.-based NGO, Developing Radio Partners, also addressed the role of parents, community, government, and organisations in the fight against child marriages in Malawi.

As the country will be joining the rest of the world in commemorating the 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence from 25 November to 10 December 2021, the call to act on ending violence against women and girls, especially child marriages, has become louder as cases of child marriages continue to rise.

The question remains: What are we doing as Malawians to safeguard the girl child and make sure the life she leads is what she has always dreamt of?