Using marital deprivation as a strategy to address child marriage sends the message that marriage before the age of 18 is illegal and will not be tolerated in this community. However, we also note that leaving marriage is a curative approach that does little to prevent child marriage in the first place. The withdrawal also fails to address the main reasons for child marriage, which can have a greater impact on when a girl is married. This research suggests that, despite laws and law enforcement, marriage still takes place before the age of 18 and that to effectively address early marriage in these communities, we need to better address the more direct causes of child marriage in Malawi, such as pregnancy and poverty, including the lack of employment opportunities for girls. Further analysis of these data suggests that treating pregnancy as a major driver of child marriage could be a more effective strategy to address child marriage in Malawi (results presented elsewhere). These findings have implications beyond Malawi and suggest that law enforcement strategies need to complement other approaches that address the causes closer to marriage, such as pregnancy or poverty and financial insecurity. Overall, we found that most adults in the community view withdrawal from marriage as positive and desirable for girls married as children. Deprivation of marriage allows girls to return to school and can be seen as a “reparation” for child marriage. As one father from Nkhata Bay put it: “If the child has been removed from marriage, she is told that she is still young, that it is better for her to go back to school. For you to become an autonomous person and an educated role model. (Fathers Discussion Group, Nkhata Bay). This view of withdrawal as positive and curative for the problem of child marriage was also noticeable among key community members in our study.
A government official in Nkhata Bay recalls a resignation and how the NGO responsible helped this particular girl: Under current marriage and divorce laws, the recommended age for married couples is 18 and older. If we find that someone has been married as a minor, either voluntarily or necessarily, we intervene and ensure that the husband receives a severe punishment that sends a message about the consequences of marrying young girls in the community. We ensure that all those who were involved in the formation of this marriage receive a punishment, even if a pastor was involved in the celebration of this marriage, he must also receive a punishment. Catholic canon law adopted Roman law, which set the minimum age of marriage at 12 for women and 14 for men. The Roman Catholic Church raised the minimum age of marriage to 14 for women and 16 for men in 1917, and lowered the age of majority to 18 in 1983. METHODS: Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys and the MACHEquity Child Marriage Database at McGill University were used to examine the relationship between laws systematically setting the age of marriage for girls at 18 years or older and the prevalence of child and adolescent marriage in 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Countries are believed to have consistent laws against child marriage when they require women to be 18 or older to marry, marry with parental consent, and consent to sex. The relationships between the consistent distributions and the two outcomes were identified using multivariate regression models.
In late antiquity, men and women had to be married into adolescence at the age of 20. [273] The rabbis estimated the age of maturity from the beginning of the thirteenth year in women and the beginning of the fourteenth year in men. [274] [8] Belinda Maswikwa et al., “Minimum Marriage Age Laws and the Prevalence Of Child Marriage and Adolescent Birth: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa,” International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, (2015) Vol. 41(2):58–68, www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/4105815.pdf (accessed November 13, 2015); Girls Not Brides, “Minimum Age of Marriage in Africa,” compiled by the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), 2013, www.girlsnotbrides.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Minimum-age-of-marriage-in-Africa-March-2013.pdf (accessed November 13, 2015). We have a crisis in our hands. The UN estimates that 15 million girls experience child marriage every year. We need to move from vulnerability to voice and leadership. Africa is young and full of innovation. This energy must be used to ensure that we have sustainable solutions.
[2] Although the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Laws 2015 do prohibit child marriage, in practice, child marriage still occurs in parts of Malawi [1, 2]. The most recent DHS, conducted before the introduction of changes to child marriage laws, shows a slight increase in marriages among women aged 15-19, with 21.5% of 15-19 year olds reporting being married or related (DHS 2015/6), up from 19.5% of 15-19 year olds in 2010.