I'll face teen pregnancy, child marriage head on, says Lawmaker

The plague of child marriages and teenage pregnancies continue to deprive young girls of their childhood, and the potential to become drivers of Zambia’s development.

Many Zambian girls, who aspire to become pilots, medical doctors, lawyers, nurses, and economists among other professions, fall prey to these social ills, and are forced out of education and into a life of poor prospects, with increased risk of violence, abuse, ill health and early death with the most affected being the rural cohort.

According to the UNICEF report on adolescents in Zambia, about 35 per cent of teenagers in rural areas begin child-bearing early compared with 20 per cent of those in urban areas.

Chienge District in Luapula province is one of the rural regions that have not been spared from a spate of teenage pregnancy and child marriage in Zambia, but area Member of Parliament (MP) Given Katuta, has vowed to put up a ruthless fight against the scourge.

Current statistics indicate continued limited access to sexual and reproductive health information and services among young people which has contributed to low condom use with only 40 per cent of girls and 49 per cent of boys aged 15-24 years having used a condom at last high risk sex.

Teenage pregnancy stands at 29 per cent with about 16,000 of adolescent girls dropping out of school in 2015 as a result of unwanted pregnancy.

“Being a new member of parliament of Chienge presents an opportunity for me to make a difference in the lives of people. My eyes are open to the reality of teenage pregnancy and child marriage and I think now is the time to safeguard the lives of a girl child in my constituency,” she says.

Early child bearing in rural areas often results from early marriage, and unplanned adolescent pregnancy is a major health concern owing to its association with higher morbidity and mortality for both the mother and child.

Ms Katuta, who is also a member of a Coalition of African Parliamentarians against HIV/AIDS (CAPAH) Zambia chapter, says besides the provision of information on sexual and reproductive health, easy access to contraceptives is a key factor in efforts to reducing teenage pregnancy in Zambia.

The lawmaker says there is need to come up with a legal framework that will allow adolescents younger than the legal age of consent (16 years), to access contraceptives freely.

Ms Katuta says, “If we are to solve this problem of teenage pregnancy, and also to prevent the spreading of HIV, we need to allow our kids to start accessing contraceptives freely without constraints, and at Parliamentary level, we need to come up with laws that will allow children as young as nine years to access contraceptives when they become sexually active.”

“Nowadays, it is common for girls to start sexual engagement early and we (Lawmakers) can’t keep a blind eye to the high numbers of teenage girls dropping out of school. We should act swiftly by putting in place mechanisms to increase access to contraception,” she adds.

Zambia has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world, with 42 per cent of women aged 20- 24 years married by the age of 18, while nine per cent are handed into matrimony by the age of 15.

Recently, a 15-year-old girl of Kanyama Township in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka escaped from a forced incestuous marriage to a 60-year-old uncle.

Such cases are rife despite the minimum age of marriage under Zambia’s statutory law being 21 years for girls and boys.

Child marriage in Zambia is driven by traditional practices and beliefs such as initiation ceremonies aimed at preparing girls who reach puberty for marriage.

With about 60 per cent of the population living below the poverty line, parents see a girl child as a source of wealth in form of the bride price they receive for marrying off their daughter.

The international law prohibits child marriage as it is a violation of children’s human rights. Nevertheless, inconsistencies in Zambia’s legal system, both between different pieces of legislation have slowed down progress on efforts to stamp out early marriages.

For instance, the legal of marriage under statutory law is 21 years but the customary law allows girls to get married at puberty.

The 2013-2014 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey shows that adolescent girls, who are most vulnerable to teenage pregnancy and child marriages, have low levels of education and belong to households in the lowest wealth quintile, and almost 30 per cent of them have experienced physical or sexual violence from a husband or partner.

“We need more public dialogue about these issues, and I would like to invite officials from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Community Development, and the Ministry of Gender to engage young people through radio shows and outreach programs so that we can create awareness about the dangers of child marriages in Chienge,” says the lawmaker.

The implementation of the national strategy on ending child marriage in Zambia which hinges on prioritising engagement with traditional leaders and law reforms is very cardinal in alleviating these vices.

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