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Malawi - New Marriage Law -
What Is Next to End Child Marriage?
By Ephraim Chimwaza, Centre for Social Concern and Development
(CESOCODE) – 5 March 2015
Photograph: Grace is a mother of two who lives in Malawi.
Credit: Lindsay Mgbor | DFID
Last week, the Parliament of
Malawi adopted a law that, for the very first time, sets the minimum age of
marriage from 16 to 18 years old. The Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations
Bill has been hailed as a step forward for Malawi, where 50% of girls are
married off before 18.
But while laws are important,
they are one tool in the range of measures needed to address child marriage.
Enforcement measures and civic education need to complement legislation to have
an impact on the lives of girls at risk of child marriage.
We spoke to Ephraim Chimwaza,
Programme Manager at the Centre for Social Concern and Development (CESOCODE)
in Malawi, to find out what needs to happen for this new law to make a real
difference on child marriage.
What is your reaction to the
new Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations law?
The passing of the law is a
positive step and we must give credit to all those who made it possible:
women’s rights campaigners, members of Parliament…etc. It is also testament to
the work of civil society who pressured government over several years to
present the bill to parliament.
However, some are saying that
the Parliament has rushed in passing the amended bill before changing Section
22 of the Constitution which stipulates that young people between the ages of
15 and 18 may marry upon parental consent. There is now a legal contradiction.
Now we need the President to sign the Bill and then revise the Constitution.
How will this affect your
work on child marriage?
The marriage law gives us a
new advocacy tool to eliminate child marriage. Previously, we did our advocacy
without any legal backing. There was no law that enabled us to prosecute a
child marriage and we couldn’t bring cases to court. Now that we have the
backing of the law, our work will be a little easier. If we bring someone to
court, we stand a chance to see justice given.
Laws can only go so far if
they are not implemented. What is needed for the marriage law to be effective?
Before the bill went to
parliament, people across the country were
asked about their views on child marriage, whether legislation was a
good thing and what changes they wanted to see in their communities. Now that
the law has passed, we need to go to the people again.
Most of the time, there is no
civic education in the villages to talk to parents, village leaders and
chiefs about the laws in our country. If communities are not aware that child
marriage is illegal and the government starts prosecuting people, it will not
change people’s views. It is one thing for Parliament to pass the law; it’s
another thing to make sure it reaches everyone. There is a need – and a
responsibility – for NGOs to do this work and for the government to make sure
awareness-raising takes place.
In particular, we need to work
closely with community and traditional leaders, educate them about the law
and the consequences of child marriage. To get rid of harmful cultural practices,
traditional leaders will have to sit down with their subjects in their
communities and start a conversation about how to modernise traditions so that
they no longer harm girls.
Finally, we needed political
will to pass the law and we will need political will to implement it. The
government should give the judiciary enough power and means, and set up
mechanisms to prosecute cases swiftly. If a case goes to court and justice is
delayed, then justice cannot be done. One way would be to employ special magistrates
that deal with child marriage cases.
What is your message to the
Government of Malawi now that the law has passed?
Our message is: work hand in
hand with civil society to make sure that the new marriage law is implemented.
Civil society does its part in the community, and the government has a role to
play to end child marriage too.
We hope that the Ministry of
Children and Social Welfare will continue to look into the issue of child
marriage Malawi, listen to our voices and take the necessary steps to implement
the law.
Education is a tool to
sustain the development of the girl and her community. The government should invest
in girls’ education programmes and support adolescent girls’ access to sexual
and reproductive health services. As I mentioned before, civic education and
community advocacy are crucial to ensure the law makes a difference and the
government should support these efforts too.
Are you hopeful that this
marks the beginning of an end to child marriage in Malawi?
We have a government that has
shown political will. We have a national platform of NGOs that worked
tirelessly for this law to pass. With this structure in place, we are hopeful
that we can continue our work, hand in hand with the government, to end child marriage
in Malawi.
What is your message to other
civil society groups working to end child marriage?
We want to learn from civil
society groups in countries that already have minimum age of marriage laws: how
are they using the law as an advocacy tool? How does the law work there? How
can we learn from their experiences? It’s important for civil society
organisations to support one another beyond borders and work towards our mutual
goal of ending child marriage.
Raising the Age of
Marriage in Malawi
By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon - March 2, 2015
Last week, the
government of Malawi took a big step toward protecting its girls and
strengthening its families: it increased the legal age of marriage to eighteen.
Previously, girls in Malawi were allowed to marry at sixteen or, with parental
consent, at fifteen.
The UN Population
Fund reported that Malawi has the seventh highest rate of child marriage in the
world, with half of all girls married before their
eighteenth birthday, and nearly one in eight married by age
fifteen. A 2014 Human Rights Watch report
noted that in Malawi child marriage is often seen as a way to improve a
family’s economic status, protect daughters from adolescent pregnancy—which is
highly stigmatized—and ensure a family’s honor.
Yet for girls,
child marriage poses severe education and health risks. After girls are
married, it is unlikely that they will continue to attend school. In parts of
Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, child marriage has been shown to lower the likelihood that girls will achieve literacy.
Furthermore, child marriage exposes girls to all of the risks associated with
early pregnancy and childbirth. Girls aged fifteen to nineteen are twice as
likely to die from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth than women in
their twenties, and girls under age fifteen are five times more likely to die.
According to the World Health Organization,
teenage pregnancy accounts for 20 to 30 percent of maternal deaths in Malawi.
This makes the
unanimous passage of the Divorce, Marriage, and Family Relations Bill by their
parliament a positive step in improving the lives of women and girls in Malawi.
Yet more remains to be done. As former President of Malawi Joyce Banda said at
a recent CFR roundtable I hosted on
child marriage, “In Malawi this week, we have finally passed the
bill of banning child marriage… But the passing of the bill is just the first
step… Passing the bill is one thing, but implementing is yet another problem.”
Civil society
groups warn that the practice of child marriage cannot truly become a thing of
the past without programs to eliminate poverty and
change other local practices. For example, in parts of Malawi, girls
reaching puberty may receive a night-time visit from an older man—known as a
“hyena”—with the intent of preparing them for marriage.
There are a variety of strategies available to governments
facing high child marriage rates—such as Malawi—to further their push to
end child marriage. These include community-based initiatives that mobilize
local leaders as well as men and boys to change social norms, programs
that focus on returning girls to school after marriage or providing them with
vocational training, and conditional cash transfer programs that encourage
parents to keep their daughters unwed and in school.
Ending child
marriage will not only allow girls to reach their full potential, it will also
contribute to healthier families and improve Malawi’s economic growth as these
girls are able to contribute fully to their society.