In 2016, the Zambian government implemented a national strategy to curb child marriage. But civil society organizations say laws exclude children who are not in school and more needs to be done to completely end the practice. When she left five years ago, Chisela had two children. Now she is working to end the common practice of underage marriage in Zambia. Significant progress has been made in reducing child marriage globally, but government officials and child advocates in Zambia say much remains to be done. The government has a cross-sectoral strategy to reduce child marriage, says Pumulo Mundale, director of gender rights protection at Zambia`s Ministry of Gender, but the issue is complex. About 17% of women and girls aged 15 to 19 in Zambia are married, according to data from the Zambia Demographic and Health Survey from 2013 to 2014. One percent of men and boys in the same age group are married. “There are times when it`s children getting married, so who [should we] criminalize in such a case? A classmate? Mundale asks. “There are so many components that lead to child marriage, so we are working with different stakeholders to combat this,” she says. The Zambian Constitution defines a child as a person under the age of 18. Under Zambian law, it is illegal to “marry or marry a learner who is a child”. It is also illegal to sexually abuse a child.
Both crimes are punishable by up to life imprisonment. Collins Hikalinda, national coordinator of the Zambia Police`s Victim Support Unit, says the country`s education laws protect children who are in school from marriage, but adds that the rule is not enough. Zambia also has laws banning dirt, but even that is lacking, Hikalinda says. There must be a law that makes it illegal to marry a child, even those who are not in school, says Moses Silungwe, whose organization New Generation Time is working to end child marriage. Proponents say these existing laws don`t do enough to end child marriage. Zambia`s national strategy includes the goal of reducing child marriage by 40% by 2021. The strategy, which focuses on partnerships between the government and civil society organisations as well as strengthening the country`s legal framework on child marriage, began in 2016. “What we want is a law that ensures that a child, whether in school or not, is protected,” he says. Moses Silungwe, director of New Generation Time, taps a video as children answer questions about child marriage at Shiyala Primary School in Chongwe, Zambia. Globally, according to UNFPA data, one in five girls is married before reaching the age of 18.
Mundale says the Ministry of Gender is consulting on whether any child marriage should be a crime. New Generation Time has collected signatures to ask the government to create such a law, he says. . This data was repeated in 2017 in a report published by UNFPA, the United Nations Reproductive Health Division, in collaboration with the Zambian government and the Population Council. First, Chisela says her parents were against marriage. But when she got pregnant, her mother agreed. “We believe that contamination [of the law] alone is not enough to combat this problem because it is only the person who committed the act,” says Hikalinda. “What about those who accept marriage?” LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – When Elizabeth Chisela was 16, she met a man who promised her a life that would be like heaven if only she married him. This marriage triggered eight years of what Chisela describes as hell. Her husband, nine years her senior, was violent, she said. Chisela, who is linked to New Generation Time, says zambia`s existing reintegration programme was key to helping her leave her abusive older husband. This program also helps girls return to school after pregnancy.
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