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Malawi traditional leader orders chiefs to dissolve lockdown child marriages

Malawi traditional leader orders chiefs to dissolve lockdown child marriages

CHARLES PENSULO A senior traditional leader in Malawi has ordered village chiefs to dissolve all the child marriages that took place during the country's coronavirus lockdown so girls can return to classes when schools start reopening next month. Senior Chief Theresa Kachindamoto, a well-known campaigner against early marriage, said an increase in the illegal practice, as well as teen pregnancies during the pandemic, had spurred her renewed push to save child brides. Kachindamoto joined forces with women's rights groups for the campaign, spreading their message among parents and village leaders across the southern African nation, where high rates of early…
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Uproar after Somali lawmaker presents bill to legalise child marriage

Uproar after Somali lawmaker presents bill to legalise child marriage

ABDI SHEIKH HAFSA was married off at 13 by her father to a man who paid $100. She and her mother say she was beaten and raped for two years before they convinced him to divorce her. "The man just slept with me, beating me always," she said, sitting by her mother, who clutches her daughter tightly. "I regretted I was born." There is no law mandating a minimum age for marriage in Somalia. A bill introduced in parliament this month by a presidential ally caused a storm of criticism from lawmakers when they realised it would legalise marriage at…
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African activists fight violence against women one law at a time

African activists fight violence against women one law at a time

KIM HARRISBERG AS a young girl growing up in northern Zimbabwe's mining community of Mashonaland, Beatrice Savadye watched as her friends were forced into child marriages and early motherhood while many became sick with HIV. Wanting a different life for herself and other girls, Savadye started the Zimbabwean women's movement Roots Africa seven years ago fighting for, among many things, legislation change to better protect women's rights in her region. Under the lockdown, Savadye is one of a band of female activists in Africa pushing for stronger laws to protect women trapped indoors with abusers from a surge in violence,…
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