Child marriage around the world:
Malawi
Malawi has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with 1 in 2 girls married by the age of 18.
Drivers
A key challenge to eradicating child marriage in Malawi is entrenched attitudes that accept the practice. Child marriage is also closely linked to poverty, as often in rural areas girls will be married off very young to improve a family’s financial status. In northern Malawi, kupimbira, or giving a young daughter in marriage as repayment for a debt, is practiced.
Legal age of marriage
Conflicting legislation makes the minimum age of marriage ambiguous in Malawi. Early in 2015, and following advocacy efforts by civil society, the parliament adopted the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Bill, raising the minimum age of marriage to 18.
However, the new provisions cannot overwrite the Constitution, which stipulates that girls and boys ages 15 to 18 may marry with parental consent. The constitution also does not specifically prohibit the marriage of children under 15, but merely directs the government to “discourage” them.
Sources
- UNICEF, State of the World’s Children, 2015
- Human Rights Watch, “I’ve never experienced happiness”: Child marriage in Malawi, 2014
UNICEF 2015 % Married by 15
UNICEF 2015 % Married by 18
* Child marriage prevalence is the percentage of women 20-24 years old who were married or in union before they were 18 years old.
International Ranking 2015*
9* According to UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2015.
Stories related to Malawi
More from Malawi
- Malawi’s fearsome chief, terminators of child marriages (Al Jazeera)
- Teaching parents in Malawi why girls need education, not child marriage (A world at school)
- Malawian chief annuls 300 child marriages, sends kids to school (This Africa Me)
- Dispatches: preventing child marriage in Malawi (Human Rights Watch)
- Malawi bans child marriage but the work is just beginning (Akimbo)
Reports relevant to Malawi
Resources related to Malawi
Campagne de retour à l’école: Initiative de Mfera en faveur de l’éducation
Case studies (Etudes de cas)
Back to school campaign
Case studies (Etudes de cas)
Together for girls: Violence against children surveys
Toolkits (Boite à outils)