Child marriage a heavy burden
JOHANNESBURG – Shocking statistics reveal extent of child marriages in South Africa.
The 2016 community survey results released by Statistics South Africa indicate that over 91 000 girls in South Africa between the ages of 12 and 17 are married, divorced, separated, widowed or living with a partner as husband and wife, with the latter forming the majority of the group.
KwaZulu-Natal leads as the province with the highest number of such incidents. About 25 000 young girls in the province, along with Gauteng as a close second with about 16 000, make up the bulk of the numbers from a population of about three-million nation-wide.
“These shocking statistics paint a dire picture for the emancipation of young African children and women,” said Deirdre Byrne, chairperson of the Unisa-Africa Girl Development Programme – launched to promote girls’ rights on the continent.
“Although the South African stats are lower compared to the rest of Africa, which represents 17 per cent or about 125 million of the 700 million world-wide child-brides, the fact that child brides are a reality in the country, however – a country with one of the world’s best constitutions – is frightening.” Byrne said child brides are a toxic combination of regressive gender norms that make families regard daughters as sources of revenue. She added that patriarchy reinforced by cultural beliefs and practices values the life of a boy child far higher than that of a girl child.
“This is due to the status of a boy carrying the family name, continuing the family business, and contributing financially to the family home. Girls are, in such an instance, seen as a drain on resources and with the father making all the decisions, the girl’s prospects are grim.”
As a means of changing the current trajectory, Byrne said education can be used as a vehicle for alleviating this continent-wide trend. “The only vehicle to decreasing the number of child brides is through education. These appalling statistics only highlight the need for placing girls’ education at the top of the agenda and the relevance of launching the Africa Girl Development Programme.”
Details: For more information visit www.unisa-agdp.org or email info@unisa-agdp.org
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