Lesson 1: Early and Forced Marriage
This lesson plan should be used with the animated resource, Sazia’s story. It can
also be used in conjunction with the Teachers’ Presentation and the
accompanying information sheet.
Alert
This is a sensitive issue and the teacher should be mindful of this, challenging
any inappropriate comments. Anyone affected by the issues presented in the
animated resource or in the case studies can speak to their teacher or a trusted
adult. More information on who to call can be found here: http://www.plan-uk.org/what-we-do/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/girls-rightsresources/sazia-early-forced-marriage/early-forced-marriage-teaching-resources
Teachers can download posters to display around the classroom from here: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/when-things-go-wrong/forcedmarriage/publications.
Learning outcomes:

Students to understand what a forced marriage is and what it is not.

Students to understand the cultural context of forced marriages.

Students to understand the possible long-term impact of forced marriage on girls
and women, particularly the consequences for their education
Equipment required:



Access to the internet
Scrap paper, post-its
Paper, coloured pens
STARTER ACTIVITIES
It is important that students grasp what it is like to be forced to do something
against their will, which has been organised or sanctioned by their parents.
Ask students to think of things they enjoy doing, for example going to school, hanging
out with friends, watching TV or playing video games. Then ask them how they would
feel if their parents said they couldn’t do these things any more because it was not the
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right thing to do. Also, ask them how they would feel if they had to move to different part
of the country or world. Encourage the students to explore the following themes:
1. How would you feel if you were not allowed to do things you enjoyed doing?
2. What would it be like to start a new life somewhere else all by yourself with a new
family?
3. How would you mange to communicate if you didn’t know the language or the
area?
4. How would you feel if you decided not to go, and your family disowned you?
Where would you go?
Next use these statements to lead a general discussion on what students think
forced marriage is:
“Forced marriages only happen in Asian families”
“Forced marriages and arranged marriages are the same”
“Forced marriages don’t happen in the UK”
“There’s no law against forced marriage”
“The parents know what they’re doing is wrong”
“It’s best not talk about it incase I offend someone”
Discussion of these statements can be stimulated using the Teachers’ Presentation and
information in Resource Section 1: Agree/Disagree statements (p.8-9).
Write the categories, ‘Agree’ and ‘Disagree’ on the white board. Read out each
statement and ask the students where they think each statement should go. Have a
student come up and write the statement under their chosen heading. Read out the
information relating to each one and then ask the students if they think the statement
should stay in the same place or be moved.
This exercise enables student to explore what they think about forced marriages.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Students to watch the first part of the animated resource ‘Sazia’s story’ at
http://www.plan-uk.org/what-we-do/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/girls-rightsresources/sazia-early-forced-marriage/sazias-choices/sazia-call-mrs-chandra
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At the end divide them into groups of five or any number that you think will suit a
simple group discussion.
At the end of the first animated resource the students should discuss the
following:
1. How do they think Sazia is feeling?
2. What would they do in Sazia’s position and why?
3. Do they think Sazia’s friend Basheera did the right thing?
4. Explore Sazia’s relationship with her parents.
5. Could the teacher Ms Chandra have done more? Could she have done things
differently?
Each group should discuss and write down on cards the options available to
Sazia
Groups display their work and discuss how they arrived at the options.
Plenary: Discuss the issue of forced marriage and how this affects girls and in
particular their education.
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Lesson 2: Early and Forced Marriage
Alert
This is a sensitive issue and the teacher should be mindful of this, challenging
any inappropriate comments. Anyone affected by the issues presented in the
animated resource or in the case studies can speak to their teacher or a trusted
adult. More information on who to call can be found here: http://www.plan-uk.org/what-we-do/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/girls-rightsresources/sazia-early-forced-marriage/early-forced-marriage-teaching-resources
Teachers can download posters to display around the classroom from here: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/when-things-go-wrong/forcedmarriage/publications
Learning outcomes:

Students to understand that forced marriage is a global problem.

Students to understand the impact of forced marriage and its disastrous effects
on a girl’s education.

Students to know what they can do within their local communities and globally to
raise awareness of this issue.

Students to understand the option[s] available to anyone who is facing a forced
marriage.
Equipment required:

Access to the internet

A3 sheets of paper

Scissors, coloured pens
STARTER ACTIVITY
Review the animated video from Lesson 1: Early and Forced Marriage. It can be found
here: http://www.plan-uk.org/what-we-do/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/girls-rights 4
resources/sazia-early-forced-marriage/. Hold a general discussion about the material in
the previous lesson to assess how the students are feeling and if there are any issues
they would like to discuss.
Next, watch the three animated video endings video endings to Sazia’s story:
http://www.plan-uk.org/what-we-do/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/girls-rightsresources/sazia-early-forced-marriage/sazias-choices/
Help Sazia decide what to do next.
After watching ‘Option A: Go to Pakistan’, discuss the following:
1. How do you think Sazia is feeling?
2. What do you think will happen to Sazia?
3. How will Sazia’s life change?
4. What about Sazia’s education?
After watching ‘Option B: Run away?’, discuss the following:
1. How do you think Sazia is feeling?
2. Where could Sazia go? Who could she contact?
3. Will Sazia be able to see her family again? If she can’t, what would that feel like?
4. What about Sazia’s education?
After watching ‘Option C: Call Mrs Chandra?’, discuss the following:
1. How do you think Sazia is feeling?
2. Did Sazia do the right thing by calling Mrs Chandra?
3. Will Sazia be able to see her family again? If she can’t, what would that feel like?
What is mediation? Could mediation be used here?
4. What about Sazia’s education?
MAIN ACTIVITY
Start a discussion about forced marriage and the global picture. What do students think
happens to girls who live overseas who are forced into marriage? Does this compare
with what happens to girls in the UK? Do they think there is more help in the UK? For
example, are there more places they can go to get help, or more laws to protect them?
Within the same groups ask the students to devise two comic strips: the first one
will be about Sazia’s story and the second one about a girl from another part of
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the world. The students can use information from the case studies (to be found in
Resource Section 2, p. 10-20)
There should be no more than five scenes in each group’s story.
The students should to think about the following to guide them in making their
comic strip:
1. Who is in the story – which are the characters and what part do they play
within the story?
2. How does the story end for Sazia or the girl from one of the case studies?
Do they run away, or tell someone? It’s up to the students to decide.
3. What message do the students want to get across in their comic strip and
how can they take action?
Hand out some A3 sheets of paper so the students can start planning out their
comic strip.
Plenary
Teacher should start a list of what the students think happens to girls who are forced into
marriage in the UK and elsewhere and what they can do. The aim of this exercise is not
to compare situations and contexts, but to highlight that having laws and services in
place can help protect girls from forced marriages and to draw the students’ attention to
what happens to girls if these things are not in place.
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Lesson 3: Early and Forced Marriage
Creating a presentation for school assembly
Alert
This is a sensitive issue and the teacher should be mindful of this, challenging
any inappropriate comments. Anyone affected by the issues presented in the
animated resource or in the case studies can speak to their teacher or a trusted
adult. More information on who to call can be found here: http://www.plan-uk.org/what-we-do/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/girls-rightsresources/sazia-early-forced-marriage/early-forced-marriage-teaching-resources
Teachers can download posters to display around the classroom from here: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/when-things-go-wrong/forcedmarriage/publications
MAIN ACTIVITY
Students to create a presentation on forced marriage for assembly, using the work they
have done so far and highlighting how their peers can take action at www.planuk.org/what-you-can-do
‘The Right to say No’ supporting resources: http://www.plan-uk.org/what-wedo/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/girls-rights-resources/sazia-early-forcedmarriage/early-forced-marriage-teaching-resources
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Resource Section 1: (Agree/Disagree statements)
Forced marriages only happen in Asian families
Forced marriage is not restricted to the south Asian community. There have been cases
involving families from the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
For further information you can watch this news article on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XAbEANYPbo
Forced marriages and arranged marriages are the same
There is a strict distinction between forced and arranged marriage. Forced marriage is
carried out without the consent of the child and often involves pressure or coercion.
Forced marriage is not sanctioned within any culture or religion.
Forced marriages don’t happen in the UK
Some forced marriages are carried out in the UK.
Watch a short video from the Guardian about forced marriage in the UK at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/11/british-asian-forced-marriages
There’s no law against forced marriage
It is illegal to force someone into marriage. The penalty is prosecution and up to two
years in jail.
Real news story
The girl was 12 when she was ‘married to her 16-year-old cousin. Her ‘husband’ then
raped her, with the approval of her father, his brother and sister-in-law. It happened last
year, in London.
Last week in north London, a court convicted the now 17-year-old boy of rape and the
Albanian girl's father, uncle and aunt of causing or inciting underage sexual activity. The
court heard that the schoolgirl's father, aged 29, had staged the illegal marriage
ceremony in front of his older brother, 54, and sister-in-law, 54. Police were called in
after the girl's mother found out what her husband and his family had done to her child.
Judges have issued 86 forced marriage protection orders in the past year to prevent
illegal marriages such as the one suffered by the girl, and helped annul marriages when
the ceremony had already taken place.
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The parents know what they’re doing is wrong
Some of the key motives for forced marriage that have been identified are:

The concept of ‘Izzat’ or honour drives some parents who see nothing wrong with
their behaviour. The motivation and wish to build stronger families and to
preserve cultural or religious traditions can override the wishes of the child.

Controlling unwanted behaviour and sexuality (including perceived promiscuity,
or being gay, bisexual or transgender) - particularly the behaviour and sexuality
of women.

Peer group or family pressure.

Attempting to strengthen family links.

Ensuring land remains within the family.

Protecting perceived cultural ideals which can often be misguided or out of date.

Protecting perceived religious ideals which are misguided.

Preventing ‘unsuitable’ relationships outside the family’s ethnic, cultural, religious
or caste group.

Assisting claims for residency and citizenship.

Long-standing family commitments.
It’s best not talk about it in case I offend someone
Forced marriage should not be treated with caution for fear of offending cultural
sensitivities. It can involve child abuse, abduction, violence, rape, unwanted
pregnancy and enforced abortion. Refusing to marry can place a young person at
risk of murder, sometimes also known as ‘honour killing’.
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Resource Section 2: Case studies
Fatima, 15
When 15-year-old Fatima travelled to Turkey last year to attend the wedding of a male
cousin she had never met, she was eager to meet the bride and groom. But after she
arrived in the small Turkish village where her parents had lived before immigrating to
Austria, the Vienna high school pupil's enthusiasm quickly turned to panic when she
learned that she was the bride. Despite Fatima's frantic resistance, her father beat her
until she consented - the teenager went ahead with the marriage planned by the couple's
parents.
"Marriage once meant bliss and great happiness, but it turned out to be a horrible ordeal
that I will never forget," said Fatima, who asked a reporter not to use her last name for
fear of reprisal.
Fatima turned to Orient Express, a Vienna non-profit agency of mostly Turkish women
that has helped 28 victims of forced marriage in recent months. The group hired a
lawyer, who won an annulment by invoking a new penal code in Turkey that increased
the minimum age of marriage for women to 18 years old (it had previously been 15).
Now 16, Fatima lives in a safe house in Vienna beyond the control of her father, who she
says remains enraged by her defiance.
Sunita, 27
My name is Sunita and I am 27 years old. At the age of 13 I was pulled out of secondary
school. My parents kept me at home and would not allow me to go to school. When I
was 17 years old I got myself a job at a local warehouse as a picker and packer. I had
been working there for a year when parents then said to me that we were going to
Pakistan on a family holiday. I was very excited as I had not been on holiday before and
I wanted to see my grandparents and extended family. But a week into the holiday I was
told by my parents that I was getting married to my first cousin. I disagreed and I was
told by my parents that if I didn't get married I couldn't come back to England. So I had to
say yes even though I didn't want to as I didn't know where to seek help. In the end my
parents got me engaged and arranged for the wedding to take place in the following
year.
After the wedding my parents left me in Pakistan for six months, hoping the marriage
would work out. I couldn't believe how my parents had betrayed me and left me in a
different country all on my own. I explained to my husband that I didn't want to get
married and that my parents forced me. He replied by saying he didn't care and he just
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wanted to come to England. I then wrote a letter to the Home Office explaining that my
marriage was a forced marriage and I did not want to sponsor my husband to come over
to the UK. But unfortunately my letter was never acknowledged and he got his visa and
then came over to England.
I was then not allowed to continue with my work. I was told to stay at home by my
parents to make the marriage work as they had wanted. I was kept at home and was not
allowed around the house so I didn’t use the house telephone. My parents had taken my
mobile from me. I managed to get to the phone in the middle of the night so I called a
friend and asked if he could call the police and explain what was happening and that I
wanted to leave the house the next evening when my dad would be at work. The police
arrived at 6.30 pm and I was escorted out of the house and taken to the police station,
where I gave a statement and then went to stay at a bed and breakfast. While staying
there I felt very isolated and depressed not knowing where to turn to for help or any
support.
When I went to make a claim for Job Seekers Allowance I was told by a worker that I
was stupid and I should go back home as I was 20 years old and didn’t have a future
without my family. I then felt I couldn't go on without my family, but I was going to stay
strong and get myself a job. I was also informed by a friend that my father was tracking
me down through my National Insurance Number.
I then went to the Karma Nirvana Refuge where I was supported tremendously. I
contacted my family, but they said I was dead to them so they disowned me. I continued
to rebuild my life. Through my work with Karma Nirvana I have gained a university
qualification after leaving school with none. I feel very passionate about what I do as I
can help and support people who have been in the same situation or are going through
the same experience as myself.
Karisma
Karisma was shocked when her father told her he’d arranged for her to marry someone
when she turned 16. This is her story.
Growing up, I often imagined getting married to the man of my dreams. He had to be
good looking, funny and really take care of me. However, I never in a million years
dreamed of this marriage happening at such a young age.
I was only 14 years old when my dad came to me one morning and said he had some
news. He told me that I had been ‘asked for’. I repeated the words in my head and tried
to make sense of them. Fenar, who was one of my dad's friends, said he was hoping his
son could find a suitable wife… and my dad had suggested me.
I felt so betrayed by him. My own father was 'selling' me off to an 18-year-old who I didn't
even know. I immediately objected but he wouldn't take no for an answer. My mum died
when I was six, so there was no one else in the house I could turn to. But I knew
someone else who could help.
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I called my aunt and tried to explain the situation to her. It made sense to stay at hers for
a while, so I began to gather up my things. As I was doing so, my dad burst into my
room.
We had a big argument about the whole situation. He told me how I wouldn't marry this
guy until I was 16, when it was legal. He said that this was the life he had planned out for
me. I wouldn't have to leave school, just move in with my husband and be the traditional
wife outside of school hours.
I told him I was sorry, but that it would never happen. I grabbed my things and vowed not
to return.
When I got to my aunt's, I explained everything in full. She went mad and so did my
Grandma. They talked it through with my dad, but he wouldn't listen. He kept on saying
that I was his daughter and that he should be the one to make the decisions. My
Grandma would not have any of it and so, I moved in with her.
A year and a half on and my dad is finally off the idea of me getting married so young,
but I still find it too hard to trust him enough to move back. I live with my Gran full time
and am currently studying for my GCSEs.
Next year I'm going to college and maybe after that I'll start thinking about a husband...
but one who I love and who will love me back.
Sky news
Emma Hurd, Africa correspondent
Girls as young as 14 are still being forced into marriage in some rural
communities in South Africa, despite a campaign to end the practice.
Hundreds of teenagers every year fall victim to what village elders defend as a "tribal
tradition", most of them in the Eastern Cape. Girls who had escaped the marriages
spoke to Sky News from a secret refuge in the province. Some said that their own
families had arranged for them to be abducted and married off to men they didn't know.
"I cried to my mother for help when the man came for me, but she just told me she didn't
want a spinster in her house," one 15-year-old said.
Another teenager said she had been repeatedly raped and beaten by her ‘husband’ in
the eight months before she managed to escape.
"It was a very painful experience for me, in the first few days I didn't even know his
name," she said.
The girls did not want to be identified for fear of being tracked down by their parents and
forced to return to the men they left. All of the teenagers we spoke to had been
exchanged by their parents for livestock or grain. The refuge where they are staying was
set up by Zoleka Capa, who is using her status as the first female Mayor in the area to
try to change the traditions of her own people.
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"It is totally unacceptable," Ms Capa said. "Forced marriage has no place in a
democratic state. It is a violation of rights."
Her campaign has divided the local community where the word of the male elders still
holds sway.
"The women tell us when their daughters begin their menstrual cycle," village leader
Thobile Ngcwangu said.
"Then the girls are adults, not children and they should be married, even to a 60-year-old
man," he said.
He declared his own wife - who was forced to marry him two decades ago at the age of
17 - as extremely satisfied with the arrangement.
Sitting next to him, she nodded her agreement.
Some communities have begun to reject the practice, but they have replaced it with a
new tradition that is almost as disturbing. In one village, just a few miles from the place
where Nelson Mandela was born, we were invited to attend a special service at the
church. The tiny building was crowded with young girls who were invited to approach the
altar to be presented with certificates of their virginity. The local traditional healer
physically inspects all unmarried females above the age of 12 every month.
"This is a good way to ensure they are safe and pure," the healer, Nongenile Nyoka,
said.
The virginity testing is supported by the local council which sees it as a step forward in
the campaign against forced marriage.
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Forced to marry before puberty: African girls pay lasting price
By SHARON LaFRANIERE November 27, 2005 The New York Times
Mwaka
CHIKUTU, Malawi - Mapendo Simbeye's problems began early last year when the
barren hills along Malawi's northern border with Tanzania rejected his attempts to grow
even cassava, the hardiest crop of all. So to feed his wife and five children, he said, he
went to his neighbour, Anderson Kalabo, and asked for a loan. Mr. Kalabo gave him
2,000 kwacha, about $16 (£10). The family was fed.
But that created another problem: how could Mr. Simbeye, a penniless farmer, repay Mr.
Kalabo? The answer would shock most outsiders, but in sub-Saharan Africa's rural
patriarchies, it is deeply ingrained custom. Mr. Simbeye sent his 11-year-old daughter,
Mwaka, a shy first grader, down one mangy hillside and up the next to Mr. Kalabo's hut.
There she became a servant to his first wife, and, she said, Mr. Kalabo's new bed
partner. Now 12, Mwaka said her parents never told her she was meant to be the
second wife of a man roughly three decades her senior. "They said I had to chase birds
from the rice garden," she said, studying the ground outside her mud-brick house. "I
didn't know anything about marriage." Mwaka ran away, and her parents took her back
after six months. But a week's journey through Malawi's dry and mountainous north
suggests that her escape is the exception. In remote lands like this, where boys are
valued far more than girls, older men prize young wives, fathers covet dowries and
mothers are powerless to intervene, many African girls like Mwaka must leap straight
from childhood to marriage at a word from their fathers.
Uness
Uness Nyambi, of the village of Wiliro, said she was betrothed as a child so her parents
could finance her brother's choice of a bride. Now about 17, she has two children, the
oldest nearly five, and a husband who guesses he is 70. "Just because of these two
children, I can not leave him," she said.
Beatrice
Beatrice Kitamula, 19, was forced to marry her wealthy neighbour, now 63, five years
ago because her father owed another man a cow. "I was the sacrifice," Ms. Kitamula
said, holding back tears. She likened her husband's comfortable compound of red brick
houses in Ngana village to a penitentiary. "When you are in prison," she said, "you have
no rights."
Sele
In tiny Sele, Lyson Morenga, a widower, financed his re-marriage two years ago by
giving his daughter Rachel, then 12, to a 50-year-old acquaintance in exchange for a
black bull, according to his new in-laws. Mr. Morenga delivered the bull to his new wife's
family as a partial payment, said his wife's uncle, Stewart Simkonda. Mr. SImkonda said
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Mr. Morenga had promised to deliver a larger payment after the impending marriage of
Rachel's younger sister.
Mbohesha
Malawi government officials say they try hard to protect girls like Rachel. Legislation
before Parliament would raise the minimum age for marriage to 18, the legal age in most
countries. Currently, marriages of Malawian girls from the ages of 15 to 18 are legal with
the parents' consent. Women's rights advocates say they welcome the proposal, even
though its effect would be limited because many marriages here, like much of the subSaharan region, take place under traditional customs, not civil law. The government
trained about 230 volunteers last year in ways to protect children, especially girls.
Volunteers for Malawi's Human Rights Commission, Roman Catholic Church workers
and police victim-protection units also try to intervene. In Iponga village, for example,
Mbohesha Mbisa averted a forced marriage to her uncle at age 13 last year by walking a
half-mile to the local police station, where officers persuaded her father to drop his plans
to use her to replace her deceased aunt as a wife and mother.
"I was really scared, but I wanted to protect myself," said Mbohesha, now in the sixth
grade.
Still, Malawi officials say that this region's growing poverty, worsened by AIDS and
recent crop-killing drought, has put even more young girls at risk of forced marriage.
"This practice has been there for a long time, but it is getting worse now because there is
desperation," said Penston Kilembe, Malawi's director of social welfare services. "It is
particularly prevalent in communities that have been hard hit by famine. Households that
can no longer fend for themselves opt to sell off their children to wealthier households."
"The gains which were made in addressing early marriages are being lost," said Andrina
Mchiela, principal secretary for the Ministry of Gender.
Women's rights advocates want to abolish marriage payments, or ‘lobolo’, saying they
create a financial incentive for parents to marry off their daughters. But even the
advocates describe the tradition as politically untouchable. In its most benign form,
‘lobolo’ is a token of appreciation from the groom's family to the bride's. At its most
egregious, it turns girls into the human equivalent of cattle. In much of northern Malawi,
‘lobolo’ negotiations are typically all-male discussions of down payments, installments,
settlements and the occasional refund for a wife who runs off.
Edah
Jimmy Mwanyongo, a 45-year-old village headman in Karonga, explained the marriage
of his daughter Edah much as he might any commercial transaction. Several years ago,
he said, sitting on a straw mat in his six-room house, he promised to care for his
neighbour’s two cows.
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Instead, he sold the cows to educate his adopted son. When the neighbour, Ridein
Simfukwe, lost his wife a year later in 2002, Mr. Mwanyongo said he felt obliged to offer
his daughter as a replacement. "Because I had sold the two cows, I had no choice," he
said.
Edah was 17, doe-eyed and voluptuous. Even with an illegitimate son, her neighbours
and relatives say, she had her pick of suitors. Mr. Simfukwe was 63, with nine grown
children and a flock of grandchildren.
Mr. Simfukwe said he considered Edah a bit young for him. But her father decided that
although I am old, I am the right person. I think it was a tribute to my character," he said.
"Edah was willing. I didn't tie ropes around her neck and drag her."
Edah said her father did everything but that. For nine months, she said, she held out
until "I thought I would die of sorrow." "My father refused to allow me to eat," she said.
"He chased me from the house. He said, 'Go find somewhere where you can sleep!' He
said, 'Go to your husband! If you don't want to go there, I will whip you to death!' "
Her mother, Tabu Harawa, sided with her daughter, to no avail. "I told him, ‘It is like you
are killing her,’ " she said. "It was shameful." She said, "If it happens again, I will divorce
him."
Now 20, Edah has an 11-month-old girl and is racked by fears for her future. "My
husband is old," she said, sitting on the porch of her tiny thatched hut. "He may die soon.
Most likely he leave me with more children. So where will I go?"
Her life, she suggested, is about as free as that of the two prized oxen her father now
hooks up to his wooden cart for springtime plowing. "I am like a slave," she said.
Some of Edah's neighbours pity her. Others joke that she has married her own
grandfather. Their reaction is one hint that even the most traditional Africans are starting
to frown on marriages of young women to old men, as Edah's mother said, "for the sake
of cows."
Mwaka Simbeye has her fellow villagers in Chikutu to thank for her return to her parents'
home after her sojourn in her neighbour’s hut. Now back in the second grade, she is still
young enough to be charmed by a simple game of toss. Her body remains that of a
child's.
At Mr. Kalabo's, she said in a barely audible whisper, "I had to do all the household
chores which includes washing the plates, cleaning the house, fetching water, collecting
firewood, cooking when the first wife wasn't around."
Her father, Mapendo Simbeye, who repaid his $16 (£10) debt with Mwaka, said he took
her back after hearing that the police could arrest him. In a clearing that serves as the
village social, he said he underestimated her, adding, "My daughter is worth more than
2,000 kwacha."
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"I did it out of ignorance," he said. "I had five kids, no money and no food. Then Mr.
Kalabo wanted the money back so I thought of selling the daughter. I didn't know I was
abusing her."
Mwaka's mother, Tighezge Simkonda, looks like an older version of her daughter and is
no less shy. "I did object," she said softly, glancing nervously at her husband chatting
nearby. "I said, 'My daughter is very young.' "
"But the control is with the man," she said. "The daughters belong to the man."
Sometimes that word comes years before they reach puberty.
The consequences of these forced marriages are staggering: adolescence and
schooling cut short; early pregnancies and hazardous births; adulthood often
condemned to subservience. The list has grown to include exposure to HIV at an age
when girls do not grasp the risks of AIDS. Increasingly educators, health officials and
even legislators discourage or even forbid these marriages. In Ethiopia, for example,
where studies show that in a third of the states girls marry under the age of 15, one state
took action in April. Officials said they had annulled as underage the marriages of 56
girls ages 12 to 15, and filed charges against parents of half the girls for forcing them
into the unions. Yet child marriages remain entrenched in rural pockets throughout subSaharan Africa, from Ghana to Kenya to Zambia, according to Unicef. Studies show that
the average age of marriage in this region remains among the world's lowest, and the
percentage of adolescent mothers the world's highest.
Many rural African communities, steeped in centuries of belief that girls occupy society's
lower rungs, are inured to disapproval by the outside world. "There is a lot of talk, but
the value of the girl child is still low," said Seodi White, Malawi's coordinator for the
Women in Law in Southern Africa Research Trust. "Society still clings to the education of
the boy, and sees the girl as a trading tool. In the north, girls as early as 10 are being
traded off for the family to gain. After that, the women become owned and powerless in
their husbands' villages."
In villages throughout northern Malawi, girls are often married at or before puberty to
whomever their fathers choose, sometimes to husbands as much as half a century older.
Many of those same girls later choose lifelong misery over divorce because custom
decrees that children in patriarchal tribes belong to the father.
17
Global Picture: Data from 22 sub-Saharan African countries
Marriage rates for girls aged between 15 and 19 years old
Mali 72%
Niger 57%
Uganda 47%
Burkina Faso 44%
Cameroon 41%
Central African Republic 39%
Nigeria 37%
Malawi 36%
Liberia 32%
Senegal 29%
Togo 27%
Zambia 27%
Ivory Coast 26%
Tanzania 26%
In Africa, many girls still do not attend school, because their parents are afraid of them
meeting people who might drive them from their traditions. They are afraid that
educated girls will argue with them, and want more control over their lives. Even worse,
say the parents, they do not want to marry until they are 19 or 20 years old.
A young girl often does not have a say in whether and whom she will marry. It is the
parents, both the man's and the girl's, who make the decision. The girl is frequently
subordinate to her older partner in big family decisions, such as when to have children
and how many to have. Many of these girls, in villages and towns throughout subSaharan Africa, are only about 12-years-old. But such marriages are common, even
though early unions have been illegal for decades in a number of African countries.
Domestic violence
The grandmothers who lead the wedding ceremonies repeat with oppressive voices for
many months: "You should obey him, no matter what!" They believe that if a girl does
not marry at an early age, she will sleep with many men, and nobody will want to marry
her later. The girls are pulled from school and forced to drop their education and become
wives overnight. They cannot refuse, nor can they turn to anyone for help. Some who
rebel are regularly beaten by their husbands. If they go to their relatives, they are told it
is their own fault. And when a young girl goes to the police it is dismissed as ‘a family
problem’.
18
Parents think to themselves: "We live in a period when girls chase boys, have sex,
produce babies, earn reputations, and shame families. The communities will not respect
them and people will say we failed to fulfil our duties as parents." Marriage is a way of
keeping girls from sexual adventures, they argue. It also strengthens clan relationships
and honours their traditions, say African communities.
Polygamy
Last century our grandfathers picked wives who were as young as eight. My
grandmother told me she saw my grandad at her father's house a lot when she was very
young. He never brought gifts for her, never joked with her, seemed to barely see her.
And no-one told her that he had picked her to be his bride.
A friend in Geneva once said, as a joke: "Ticky, do you mean that all our grandads were
paedophiles?"
The world "paedophile" does not exist in any African language.
The practice of forcing a girl into marriage took hold centuries ago throughout subSaharan Africa, but it continues to be widespread, especially in countries with large
Muslim populations. The marriage typically takes place within clans with polygamous
traditions. The girls are forced to wed distant relatives who are often three or four times
their age and who sometimes have chosen the girl long before puberty. When a
teenage girl gets married in Africa, her husband's status is seen as being just under
God. Forced marriages have increased in the last decade, when poverty and economic
conditions got worse - families often receive hundreds, even thousands of dollars as
marriage dowry.
Men think virgins will reduce the chances of them bringing HIV/Aids to the big
polygamous family. Teenage marriages are also common in conflict situations - girls
have served as concubines in military bases in Angola, Sudan and the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Shortly after their wedding, or co-habitation, the girls spend days
doing housework, preparing meals, washing clothes, and scrubbing pots and plates.
Health risks
Analysts on Islamic law say the Koran teaches that a girl can be married as soon as she
can conceive, but the religion does not condone forcing girls into wedlock. Medical
professionals say pre-adolescent marriage is partly responsible for Africa's maternal
mortality rates, one of the highest in the world. Early marriage is closely linked to early,
repeated and unplanned childbearing. Death rates are higher for both mothers and
babies, as teenage bodies are not ready for rigours of pregnancy or childbirth.
In 14 of the countries studied, more than 25% of girls aged between 15 and 19 years old
are married or cohabiting. Five countries have rates above 40%.
19
Teachers’ Presentation
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Learning Outcomes
What is forced marriage?
What is the cultural context
of forced marriages?
How do early and forced
marriages affect girls,
particularly their education?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Lesson 1:
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
What do you enjoy?
•
•
•
•
How would you feel if you were not allowed to do the
things you enjoy most?
What would it be like to start a new life somewhere else
all by yourself or with a new family?
How would you manage to communicate if you didn’t
know the language or the area?
How would you feel if you decided not to go and your
family disowned you? Where would you go?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Agree/Disagree
Forced marriages
only happen in Asian
families
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Agree/Disagree
Forced marriages and
arranged marriages
are the same
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Agree/Disagree
Forced marriages
don’t happen in the
UK
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Agree/Disagree
There is no law
against forced
marriage
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Agree/Disagree
The parents know
what they’re doing
is wrong
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Agree/Disagree
It’s best not to talk
about it incase I
offend someone
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Sazia’s story
1. How do they think Sazia is feeling?
2. What would they do in Sazia’s position and
why?
3. Do they think Sazia’s friend Basheera did the
right thing?
4. Explore Sazia’s relationship with her parents.
5. Could the teacher Ms Chandra have done more
or possibly have done things differently?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
How does forced marriage affect
girls, in particular their
education?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Lesson 2:
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Write down the options available to
Sazia
• Go to Pakistan
• Run away
• Call Mrs Chandra
Choose one option
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Option A – Go to Pakistan
1. How do you think Sazia is feeling?
2. What do you think will happen to
Sazia?
3. How will Sazia’s life change?
4. What about Sazia’s education?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Option B – Run away
1. How do you think Sazia is feeling?
2. Where could Sazia go? Who could
she contact?
3. Will Sazia be able to see her family
again? If she can’t, what would that
feel like?
4. What about Sazia’s education?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Option C – Call Mrs Chandra
1. How do you think Sazia is feeling?
2. Did Sazia do the right thing by
calling Mrs Chandra?
3. Will Sazia be able to see her family
again? If she can’t, what would that
feel like? Could mediation be used
here?
4. What about Sazia’s education?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Early and Forced Marriage Globally
1. What do you think happens to girls
overseas who are forced into
marriage?
2. How does this compare to what
happens to girls in the UK?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Comic Strips
1. Who are the characters in the
story?
2. What is the one key message you
want to get across in the story?
3. How does the story end?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
What are the effects of early and
forced marriages for girls in the
UK and overseas? What can they
do?
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Lesson 3:
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity
Create a presentation on forced
marriage for your school assembly
You can use:
1.The animated film
2.The case studies
3.The news stories
4.Your comic strips
5.The ‘Because I am a Girl’ website
www.becauseiamagirl.org
the
Plan:
to work with the world’s poorest children so they can move themselves from a life of poverty to a future with opportunity