A human rights-based approach to early marriage in Tanzania
Tanzania has one of the world’s highest child marriage prevalence rates, nearing or surpassing 50% in some of the country’s regions. This is despite decades-long legislative campaigns seeking to outlaw the practice internationally and domestically. From 2020 to 2022, Mzumbe University (Tanzania) and the University of Antwerp (Belgium) ran a joint action research project on a human rights-based approach to health challenges associated with child marriages in Tanzania. Empirical socio-legal research was undertaken in Dodoma Region to better understand the dynamics associated with child marriages in Tanzania.
The VLIRUOS South Initiative project on the health implications of child marriages in Tanzania has identified several risk factors. These include gender discrimination in society, gendered provisions in the law allowing girls under 18 to marry with parental consent, and underlying socio-economic determinants such as limited access to education, economic opportunities, and basic resources.
It also invites reflection on how child marriage abolition strategies are conceived and implemented, and calls for further research into the risks of climate change and the potentially positive role that customs and traditions may play.
Speakers:
- Prof. Seraphina Bakta, Mzumbe University, Dean
- Prof. Gamze Erdem Türkelli, University of Antwerp, Associate Research Professor
- Prof. Wouter Vandenhole, Full Professor of Human Rights and Children’s Rights Law
