Mozambique: Four in ten girls get ‘married’ before the age of 18 – official

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Mozambique: Four in ten girls get ‘married’ before the age of 18 – official

9:51 CAT | 25 Jul 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Four out of 10 girls in Mozambique were married before the age of 18, indicates a study by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), which warns of the high prevalence of early marriages.

The document, which is part of a set of 17 thematic studies launched on Monday by INE, indicates that the central and northern provinces are the ones with the highest prevalence of cases of premature union, highlighting Cabo Delgado, a province affected by an armed insurgency since 2017.

“Girls in Cabo Delgado are seven times more likely to marry before the age of 18 than girls in the city of Maputo”, indicates the document.

The document indicates that the prevalence of early unions is 35% higher in rural areas compared to urban areas, underlining that in Mozambique there is a 70% chance of illiterate girls getting married before the age of 17.

“Girls from households in the highest quintile of poverty have a 50% lower risk of being in early marriages than girls from households in the lowest quintile”, refers in the study.

According to INE, early unions are often associated with teenage pregnancy and 3% of girls in early unions in Mozambique are mothers at age 14.

INE recommends encouraging policies to prevent premature unions and to keep girls in school, noting that these two aspects are fundamental to reducing pregnancies among minors.

In Mozambique, customs, in many cases, have legitimized premature marriages, to the extent that, in some provinces, even before birth, the girl is betrothed to a man for various reasons, including the payment of a debt or as a price for services rendered by a traditional healer.

The approval of the Law to Prevent and Combat Premature Unions in 2019 promises to change this scenario, but the reality in rural areas remains complex.

The latest official data indicate that 48% of Mozambican girls are married before the age of 18, a situation that for non-governmental organizations operating in the sector is aggravated by the inefficient implementation of legislation, in addition to poverty and customs.

Source: Lusa