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Showing posts from August 17, 2016

Amendment of Marriage ACT of 1971 will Closing the Education Gap for Girls

© 2014 Marcus Bleasdale/VII for Human Rights Watch Education is the only key to allow young girls make informed decisions about their lives to improve their social economic wellbeing. Most adolescent girls in rural areas often succumb to sexual violence and unwanted pregnancies due to a lack of proper reproductive health information.  While Tanzania has made huge progress in enrolling children in primary schools, few girls in rural areas manage to finish their education due to pregnancy.  According to UNESCO, Shinyanga is among the regions with highest dropout rates of adolescent girls due to early marriage and teenage pregnancies.  Local analysts attribute the situation to the lack of a legal framework to deter parents from marrying off their underage girls as well as oppressive traditional customs that undermine girls’ rights.  Activists say parents often use this tactic to marry off their daughters under special dispensation gra...