Girls - Early marraige

Zambian lasses (from Lusaka Museum Arts Collection)

Gender inequality issues exist all over the world, in any country, at any stage of development. Often the issues derive from how cultural practices and views, accepted traditional beliefs about gender and economic factors, to name a few, are in direct contradiction of what it means to be alive in this world, whatever society a person lives in, and the rights all people have. From topless specific page pictures in tabloid reading material, representation in politics, sport or employment, or access to education, equal economic opportunities and rewards in life, women often appear to be undervalued, exploited, vulnerable to violation and denied their rightful place in many societies..

In Zambia, these issues, added to other factors are harmful and life threatening in a very immediate, real and unique way. The often deliberate collision of western cultural values and economic models, with traditional tribal Bantu societies in sub-Saharan Africa has its casualties and these, not occasionally, are women and girls. Casualties in many societies is one area where girls and women are well over-represented. In some areas where progress has or is being made in gender issues in the UK and western societies, there is nominal provision in Zambia and other African countries. Western influence and intervention, through intentional economic agendas and on the back of widespread mass media and internet access induced cultural change, have had a major impact of other countries. In the world global market, and in their own proclaimed ethical principles, the powerful nations must accept some responsibility for this.

Zambia has one of the highest rates of childhood and early marriage in the world. Data is again difficult to obtain, but latest figures show that 42% of 20-24 year old females are married before they are 18 and in more traditional rural areas the figure is as high as 60%, many of these girls as young as 13 years old. An early marriage can be defined as a formal, statutory or customary union of a girl before the age of 18 (Convention on Human Rights), requiring the girl to set aside her childhood and assume the role of a woman, leading to a life in that society of disadvantage and deprivation.

Girls in rural areas most at risk

Three main reasons lie behind early marriages for girls and young women:

• Poverty - in any country this is a trap that is hard to get out of. In Zambia, the poverty is overwhelming and extreme. Escape is literally a dream. It's hard to put into words some of the conditions so many of the people live in. To escape this is a exception almost unheard of. Widespread mass media and internet has introduced a brightly lit shop window of the western material world to Zambia and it's people that they have to peer through each day. They can't get away from it. What does distract them at all is the day to day objective of getting something for their families to eat. One way out of poverty for families, at least in the short term, are the male dowries paid to families of girls they marry, and often the subsequent extra pair of hands to work in the fields. In desperate poverty, this is a very attractive way out and can lead families to see little choice. Girls from poorer families are five times more likely to marry early. Choice can often be linked to information and education.
• Education - Non-educated girls and women are more vulnerable to early marriage. 65% of girls without a primary education between 20-24 years of age marry before they are 18. In comparison, 17% of girls educated to secondary or higher level marry before 18. Girls are often married off to provide money to send male siblings to school. This overlaps with traditional roles given, and societal views towards women. In the UK, most girls go to school and complete an education and are empowered because of it. Zambian girls marrying early drop out of school and never return. This lack of education perpetuates the poverty trap and has severe consequences both for the personal future of the women themselves, and the society they live in. Without education more women are abused, physically, sexually and emotionally and many more are infested with HIV and AIDS. Sexual activity in marriage is significantly higher, with married men three times more likely to carry the HIV virus. Under the shadow of violence and cultural norms,  married women are unable to refuse sex or insist on condom use. Younger girls are far more likely to suffer traumatic childbirth and are five times more likely to suffer maternal mortality. Figures from 2010 indicate 30% of deaths in childbirth were young girls. Early marriage can literally end a girl's life.
• Traditional beliefs - in Bantu society traditional roles and views of women are still held but this is within a society that has undergone forced change in so many different ways, both from internal factors and external international ones. The philosophical demographic of the country and the people in it is shifting. New languages, in more than just linguistics are evolving and again, there are casualties to this change. Although the law in Zambia states that a girl must be 21 to be married, customary tribal legal systems contradict and override this, leading to marriage at the advent of puberty, notably, but not always in rural areas. Many of these traditional practices habitual, however, and change is not impossible. Traditions are made by people and can be changed by people. People can change. If people are provided with the information and educated, things can be done for the good of people and their communities. Often change comes about, not by looking at the do not's and negatives, but by looking and concentrating on the positives and alternatives. What can be done instead? Many tribal chiefs, both male and female are helping as well as central government initiatives. People have to see the benefits of change in action. Chiefs are recognising the economic advantages of stopping early marriages and the benefits for local communities. They are beginning to understand the dangers of early marriage and the sense in avoiding it.  This all depends upon education and promotion of information. Girls who excel at school and higher education go out,earn more money and support their families so much better. It's important to enlist, equip and inform NGO's (non-government organisations), religious leaders, medical, health and school personal and most importantly by far, the young girls and women of the country. This is one of the most important roles of the football academies. The girls in the academies want to be girls and play football with their pals, they don't want to get married or be brides. They have dreams of playing for Barcelona or the Zambia national teams. They have aspirations to be nurses and teachers and to steal those and their right to make life decisions for themselves is tragic.

It is important at this stage to recognise that the mos important thing here are the girls and young women. What do they want? They want to go to school. It is alright politicians making laws and people sending money but girls need to be empowered not only in Zambia but across the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa and further afield. First, they need to be asked and listened to. Boys and men need to be educated in gender relations too. Such is the discrepancy in gender equality in Zambia, that changes in this would have dramatic and fantastic repercussions for everybody in the country. Women make up a massive proportion of the population of the country and to empower them to fulfill their individual and collective potential and excel in being alive can only be a good thing in the struggle to alleviate other devastating challenges that disrupt the country and the lives of everyone in it. It is not just a Zambian issue, but a developmental issue.

Dynamic Stars girls contingent

The football academies that Goal Zambia works with welcomes girls as members and as young as 7 and up to 14 years old. This is a key age for the education of these women and what they learn now they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. They are the future women of the country and have an equally important role to play in the countries future. Perhaps, faced with the issues they are faced with, their personal short term future may even be more important. On the pitch of Chainda, before a match, at half time or between training sessions, the coach of the Dynamic Stars, Kelly Mukuka, will talk to the girls teams about some of these issues. He does this because he cares about the people in the community he lives and about the country. He understands the alternatives. Health personal also visit the pitch, so important for the girl, and boys, unable to attend school. Part of Goal Zambia's work is to encourage and facilitate this to happen. We are inspired to see the kids have fun because that's what they want, and they look beautiful when they do.

Case Studies:

Agnes, from Lusaka, is 17 and has been married for 5 months after her parents decided they wanted to relinquish responsibility for her. A complete stranger paid the price she was advertised for, she married and moved to the small town of Chibombo, 2 hours away from the city. To escape this life she describes as "torrid", she would almost certainly face being disowned by her parents as a disgraced bride. I have seen this happen.

Beatrice  married when she was 15 and is now aged 32. She states she was terrified and confused on her wedding day when she had no idea what she was doing. In her first year of marriage she nearly died from severe complications in childbirth.

Mansa lives in the Northern Province of Zambia and was married when she was 12, to a 16 year old man. Her parents needed a dowry quickly. She was told by them to stop attending school and marry him. She was valued at £100. £50 of this was paid in cash plus a field of maize. She works in the field. She's 18 now, with 3 children and has never returned to school. She gets beaten up regularly and when he's not beating her up, he's sleeping around with lots of girlfriends. Her parents tell her she shouldn't worry - that's what all men do.