Attachments
By Antonio Massipa & Manyara Angeline Munzara
Problem
Poverty plays a central role in perpetuating child marriage, particularly for poor households. In fact, girls living in poor households are approximately twice are likely to marry before 18 than girls living in better-off households. In families with limited resources, child marriage is often seen as a way to provide for their daughter’s future. Recent research shows that household economic status is a key factor in determining the timing of marriage for girls.
Child marriage has great impacts on their lives both in the present and future. Girls who marry young are more likely to be poor and remain poor. Child marriage prevents girls from obtaining an education, enjoying optimal health, bonding with others of their own age, maturing, and ultimately choosing their own life partners.iv Compared with women over 20 years of age, girls 10–14 years of age are 5–7 times more likely to die from childbirth, and girls 15–19 years of age are twice as likely.
Child marriage is still a big challenge in Mozambique. Data from the 2011 Demographic Health Surveyvi (DHS) indicate that Mozambique has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, affecting almost one in every two girls. Mozambique also has the second-highest rate of child marriage in the eastern and southern African sub-region. Almost half of all women in Mozambique aged 20-24 (48%) were first married or in a union before the age of 18, and 14% of these women were in this situation before the age of 15. Albeit not limited to child marriage is a pervasive practice in rural areas, where the majority of the most vulnerable sections of the population resides. The DHS points out in this respect that 56% of women aged 20-24 were married by the age of 18 in rural areas, compared with 36% in the cities. Additionally and according to the same source data for ”women aged 18-24 showed that those who went to secondary school were 53% less likely to be married by 18 years old when compared to those who have not benefit from any education at all.