Mother group vows to end child marriages

A group of 30 women from Traditional Authorities (T/As) Mponda and Nankumba in Mangochi have said they will remain united in the fight against child marriages to ensure that the girl child is educated.
The women made the pledge on Friday in Mangochi when the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) held a one-day training workshop aimed at discussing the effects of child marriages.
Speaking on behalf of the women, Marriam James of Chipalamawamba Mother Group said through CHRR, they now understand the importance of educating the girl child and they promised to be agents of change.
“Before CHRR came to our communities, parents could just marry off their children anyhow in exchange for money or anything they deemed it would help them to escape from pangs of poverty, but with the intervention of CHRR, parents are now aware of the merits of investing in girl child education,” said James.
She learnt that child marriages undermine children’s rights to education and a girl child who gets into marriage is more likely to be abused by her husband and in-laws as well as being reduced to domestic slavery.