A step towards gender empowerment - Malawi bans child marriages!

According to the United Nations, child marriage is a human rights violation! Yet in developing countries, one in three girls are married before they are 18 years old and one in nine are married before they are 15. This accounts for almost 15 million girls a year and the majority of these do not get a say in their marriages, often forced to marry much older men.

Both physically and mentally unable to cope with marriage, these girls are at risk from complications associated with pregnancies, will have no education, poor access to health and are at high risk from domestic violence.

But there is light.... Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries has just passed a law changing the legal age of marriage to 18 years old. This ensures that every girl that is married is an adult! This is a huge step in recognising the issue but the country still has a long way to go in changing the traditions held in rural areas and also many challenges in monitoring that this law is actually upheld.

Grade 11 and 12, this article would make an excellent case study for your gender empowerment section in the wealth and disparities unit of the CORE. Also think about how this links to meeting Millennium Development Goal 3 (promote gender equality and empower women) and Goal 5 (improving maternal health).