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Wednesday 03 Jun 2015 - 00:35 Makkah mean time-16-8-1436
Maputo (IINA) – The Mozambican government wants to eradicate child marriages, a frequent practice which Minister for Gender, Children and Social Welfare Cidalia Chauque described as 'criminal'.
Speaking to journalists at a conference in Barcelona last Friday, Chauque said "premature marriages are a crime" and accused families of often "selling or handing over for marriage girls 13 or 14 years of age in order to pay off debts to other families".
This practice “depends on the cultural tradition of each province,” Chauque was quoted by Radio Mozambique as saying.
Data from 2011, from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), showed that child marriage affects 14 percent of girls aged 15 and under, and 48 percent of adolescents under the age of 18. The UN agency warns that Mozambique has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, compromising the rights of young girls to education and health.
In the name of 'tradition', across much of rural Mozambique, girls are regarded as ready for marriage after they have passed through initiation rites.
The province worst affected is Cabo Delgado, in the far north, where 68 percent of girls under 18 years are married, followed by Manica (64 percent) and Zambezia (62 percent).
AB/IINA
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