Reducing Child Marriage in Malawi
In 2015, 18 year old Memory Banda escaped the grasp of child marriage in her home of Malawi. Her sister, Mercy, did not have the same fate. Kusasa Fumbi, a traditional practice in the country, is a sexual cleansing in which young girls have sex to cleanse their “childhood dust” with an older man who is paid by the community and travels from village to village. Mercy Banda became pregnant at eleven due to this tradition and was forced to marry the man who had impregnated her. Despite separating later, her education and aspiration of becoming a teacher had to be put on hold at 16 years old.
The story of Mercy Banda is not uncommon, as an estimated 640 million women today were married as children. Child marriage (described as CM from this point on) is one of the most pressing issues facing youth worldwide. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights defines child marriage as a form of forced marriage, in which one of the parties is under the age of 18, and one or both parties have not expressed full consent in marriage. “Marriage” can be both formal and informal unions, but this relationship can create drastic consequences of restricting opportunities for a child’s life.
Child Marriage in a Global Context
Although CM can impact both young men and women, there are more severe health risks for young girls. According to research that evaluated the challenges and strategies to overcome child marriage, girls who marry at an early age compared to women who are 20 years or older are more likely to have birth complications, such as miscarriage, unwanted pregnancy, and stillborns. Conversely, another study stated that CM is considered a major barrier to retaining girls in school, in which girls with no education are three times more likely to marry or enter a union before age 18 than those with a secondary or higher education. CM poses both severe health risks and restricts the aspirations of young women.
UNICEF data in 2023 regarding the global distribution of the number of girls or women married before the age of 18 revealed that the highest percentage of being married early was 45% in South Asia followed by 20% in Sub-Saharan Africa. CM is a violation of human rights in which children are not given full autonomy in a union, and lack opportunities to thrive as active members of society.
Stories like Mercy Banda’s reflect this issue that young girls face within their society. Eastern and Southern Africa is home to 50 million child brides, with Malawi carrying the count of 2.2 million child brides in that region. 47% of women are married before the age of 18 according to the United Nations Population Fund of Malawi. Since child marriage is prevalent in Malawi, many young women are susceptible to major health risks that can deteriorate their advancement in society. Malawi represents a country that violates child human rights, but has established laws to reduce child marriage and better the lives of young girls.
Cultural Expectations
In order to prevent CM, it is important to understand cultural norms. Traditions around the world can establish social norms and practices that influence society’s expectations of what is deemed appropriate for the youth. Cultural practices that revolve around young women using their autonomy underage like Kusasa Fumbi are not exclusive to the region. For example, in Northern Karnataka, India, the Devadasi tradition of sex work, is a practice where young dedicated girls became servants at local temples, combining artistic function with sexual services to the priests; dedicated girls often practice commercial sex without the religious overtones.
Although traditions can be viewed as integral to a community, norms can have negative implications on young girls who may not have the opportunity to subvert cultural expectations. In some cases, there are few alternatives to marriage for young girls as there is a lack of opportunities for education and future employment. The youth are subjected to traditions due to a lack of opportunities to engage in society.
In the study, “Prevalence and factors associated with child marriage, a systematic review”, countries with a prevalence of child marriage show trends of the practice occurring in rural areas, with low education and poverty. In both Northern Karnataka and Malawi, these locations are characterized by having high rates of poverty.
The relationship between economic standing and child marriage was most visible during the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic may affect household finances through loss of employment/income due to lockdowns and extended economic recessions, and cultures with a “bride price tradition” may accelerate marriage because of the increased household revenue they provide. This period of economic hardship reveals that for some families, marrying their children at an early age not only upholds tradition, but financial means in which they can gain revenue from dowries. In a report of child marriage in South Asia, girls with less access to economic resources were more at risk for child marriage, but recent research identifies that girls from higher income brackets may also be at risk, due to social pressures to join families and maintain a girl’s ‘honor’. Thus, while economic standing and CM are linked, there is also a backdrop in which social norms fuel ideas of “honor”, which can pressure a girl to continue traditions like CM. As young women may not have alternative opportunities to gain income or engage in society, the families orchestrate marriages in order to benefit financially.
In order to subvert cultural expectations, alternatives to child marriage should be implemented. Intervention and programs through legislation preventing underage marriage and education can allow the youth to obtain resources and support. Foundational research in West and Central Africa, reveals that universal secondary education could increase contraceptive use and decrease the total fertility of girls. This support for reproductive resources can mitigate the likelihood for young girls to become pregnant and affect their health at a young age. Additionally, girls who are educated about their rights and reproductive health can make decisions to hold against child marriage and prepare for their future.
However, social norms and persistent expectations in society can counteract them. Major challenges to preventing child marriage involve weak enforcement of the law, including loopholes to have informal unions through marriage, poverty, and social norms such as patriarchal values that devalue girls’ education. Rural areas and impoverished areas may not have the money or accessibility to change their way of living. Thus, there needs to be intervention between civil society and the government to change the environment in areas where CM can occur so families can have better opportunities other than putting their child through child marriage for financial benefits.
Marriage Law Established in Malawi
As every child deserves the right to develop and grow to their full potential, programs and interventions worldwide have been established to end child marriage. As a teenager, Memory Banda wanted to be an advocate to end child marriage in her community, and she encountered Girls Empowerment Network, a Malawi-based NGO that had been trying for years to get lawmakers to address the issue of child marriage. The community work from this civil society contributed to a law banning child marriage in Malawi in 2015. Then, the Marriage Act of Malawi in 2017 was established to protect girls under the age of 18 from marriage, and hold family members who force their underage children to marry accountable and liable to prosecution.
The law was a step toward preventing CM, however, it does not account for other factors such as income and inaccessibility to education. In 2019, Memory Banda founded the Foundation for Girls Leadership, a non-profit that promotes equal rights, provides education for young girls, and teaches them to advocate for their rights.
However, a case study which
The Malawi government has increased its commitment to ending child marriage.
President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi announced that the government will fuse domestic laws with the “Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage and Protecting Children Already in Marriage,” after a roundtable discussion hosted by the Girls Not Brides Secretariat, the Clooney Foundation for Justice, Girls Opportunity Alliance and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This information displays the persistence of a government that wants to change cultural expectations that have harmed young girls by enforcing the law.
Therefore, consistency in intervention and support for young girls to stay in school and retain resources within reach can further end child marriage worldwide.
The Future
Malawi’s government has displayed consistent efforts in order to reduce the prevalence of child marriage within its region. Stories such as Mercy Branda’s impact on young girls everyday from reaching their full potential, however, the work of both citizens and the government can provide resources that delay CM.
In 2024, the Clooney Foundation for Justice presented the “Justice for Women Award” to Banda, who has helped over 500 girls delay child marriage and stay in school. Banda’s work actively changes the narrative of young women in her country, allowing them to seek both economic and societal opportunities. The use of government intervention and civil society organizations such as the Girls Empowerment Network, shows that CM can be reduced around the world with persistence and dedication.
