By Christine Mwaaba  –

In this era and age, it is disheartening that in some communities, child marriage is viewed as a strategy for economic survival as families marry off their daughters to reduce the economic burden these offsprings put on them.
In the same way, some chiefs considered their subjects as a source of capital when they sold them off as slaves, some parents and guardians are cashing in on the girl child.
The victims are as young as 10 years old and since their intellect is under developed, they only learn later in life that getting married when one is under age is a wrong thing.
According to the Central Statistical Office (CSO), though this problem is prevalent in most parts of Zambia, Eastern Province has the highest rate of girls married off before the age of 18 years with the percentage standing at 50.
Subjecting young girls to early marriages is a dangerous practice that robs them of opportunities in life.
The school girls who drop out of school due to early pregnancy in some instances are forced into marriage and this deprives them of education or other opportunities in life.
In Zambia, section 131A of the Penal Code (Amendment) Act No. 15 of 2005, defines a child as a person below the age of 16.
A midwife at Katete Urban Health Centre Helda Phiri says sexual activities at an early age have severe health consequences.
When a child gets pregnant this is more like a suicide attempt as they are not fully mature to handle child delivery.
“Pregnancy and child birth complications for girls are common in girls below the age of 18 years” she says.
Girls who are married off early are often susceptible to the health risks such as HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) as it is difficult for them to negotiate safer sex.
In addition, babies born from the child mothers are at a risk of dying in their first year compared to infants born to mothers older than 19.
In most cases the child mothers go through a difficult emotional period of mourning when they lose their children.
Ms Phiri said child marriages can reduce the girl’s opportunity of developing her own independent identity and sense of right to assert her own point of view.
This in turn can break her social connectedness which is a critical component of resilience to acquire a rich psychosocial wellbeing.
Repssi country director Kelvin Ngoma says girls who marry at a young age are often subjected to domestic violence, sexual abuse and social isolation,” he says.
Mr Ngoma noted that lack of formal and informal education can reduce options of earning money thereby leaving girls in child marriages dependent on their husbands.
He was speaking during the Repssi psychosocial support programme for the wellbeing of children review meeting held at Chipata College of Education in Eastern Province.
Mr Ngoma says the non Governmental Organization is working side by side with the Government to eliminate child marriage through programmes that empower and educate girls.
Repssi is an NGO which is simply responding to the call to stop child marriage by training teachers in an effort to address psychosocial issues affecting children which include child marriage.
“Repssi is sensitising communities on psychosocial needs of the children by engaging the Government and local government authorities, traditional leaders, religious leaders, parents and caregivers, communities, and the children,
Mr Ngoma says enforcing laws, providing incentives will surely lessen school girl child dropout who quits school either due to early pregnancy or is forced into marriage.
This support will also impart life skills to girls who are not in school and help  make them independent.
Adnance Phiri a child marriage survivor in Katete Eastern Province, says she got married at the age 15 because she wanted someone to take care of her needs after her mother died.
She could not afford to pay her school fees hence marriage became the only option for her.
Adnance is a former grade five dropout at Katete day.
She narrated that marriage was the only way to survive the economic hardships she was facing at the time.
“When it was time to deliver, she could not and ended up having still birth. My second pregnancy was also a still born and the three children I have, I delivered through caesarian section,” she says.
Adnance has since been advised by medical experts not to get pregnant after the three operations she has had.
Dorothy Mwale, a parent, took a swipe at parents who because of greed, marry off their young children.
Meanwhile, Sarafina Banda from Women and Law in Southern Africa says the organisation finds it difficult to handle cases of child marriage because of the conflicts in the three Acts surrounding marriage.
She says customary law does not specify the age of marriage as long as the parent provides consent for the marriage.
Customary marriage defines a child as someone who has not reached puberty.
However this law tends to fuel child marriages as some children reach puberty as early as 12 or 14 years of age. It is vital to harmonise the statutory and customary, and religious laws on marriage to address this mismatch”, she says.
She noted that the only law which is more effective to get the perpetrators of child marriage is defilement.
Hoya primary school head teacher Borniface Mumba in Lundazi expressed concern at school girl child dropouts due to early pregnancy.
He added that the dropouts were as a result of parents who did not want to make use of the the re-entry policy.
“Any girl child who falls pregnant is married off” he says.
He says the school is facing challenges in retrieving the young girls from early marriages as it has no legal powers to do so .
Traditional practices make it difficult for the school support team to follow the children and make use of the re-entry policy.
“It is difficult to get back the girls to continue schooling if their parents have assented to the marriage,” he says.
Mr Mumba saiys this is why the school has built a safe house to accommodate pupils especially the girls coming from far flung places.
Speaking during a media briefing,  Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs  Nkandu Luo encouraged parents and guardians to impart life skills to their children so as to break the tradition that makes them vulnerable to teenage pregnancy and child marriages.
In addition, Senior Education Officer In charge of guidance in Eastern Province Pimpa Mainza says it is pleasing to note that chiefs and headmen in the province are promoting the reentry policy and encouraging schools to build safe houses for the girls.
“Most of the tradition leaders in Eastern Province have shown commitment to end child marriage by warning all headmen to desist from promoting this vice” she said.
Ms Mainza expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Education for ensuring that a school support team to offer guidance was put in place in a number of schools in the province.
Raising awareness on the effects of child marriage will help the girls know their ability to release their full potential.