NOT A GIRL, NOT YET A WOMAN
By Racheal O. Amakye

February 25, 2004 – (Ghanaian Chronicle - Accra) Education may save girls from underage marriages Diana Edmund was forced to marry a man she did not love.

At the age of 17, her parents forced her to marry a man in Kpongwur, near Somanya in the Eastern region because his family had properties and money.

"I was too young to get married," she said, sitting with her one and a half- year-old son wiggling on her lap. "I got angry with them and said I will not agree."

Diana's parents threatened to stop funding her education if she refused to marry the 19-year-old farmer. They also promised her that her husband would pay for her to go to finish school.
Diana never got the chance to finish her education because she got pregnant. She is now 20, with two children under the age of three.

"I gave up schooling for the rest of my life, when I gave birth to my second son," she said.
Diana's husband has moved to Takoradi, in the Central region, in search of a better paying job.

Diana said her husband sends money when he can but it isn't enough to support her and their two children.

Diana is still resentful towards her parents for not allowing her to fall in love and choose a husband.

Today teenagers and children are being saved from a life of early marriage and motherhood due to an increased awareness on the part of schoolteachers and children themselves.

As a result of increased advocacy, teachers are now watching for situations of forced marriage.

They have been encouraged to report any suspicions to the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Ghana Police Service. Children themselves are also taught to report these cases to their teachers.

When the cases are reported, WAJU calls the girl's parents and explains to them that it is against the law to force a minor into early marriage. In many cases, it is simply a matter of the parents not knowing that the law states a person must be 18 years old before getting married.

According to WAJU, over five underage marriages were prevented in Accra last year after members of the unit received tips from teachers and students.

Gladys Matey, the assistant head teacher of the Presbyterian school in Kpongwur said, they educate the pupils on marriage and sex education.

Matey said forced marriages are likely to result in unhappy endings.

"There is no love and happiness," she said. "No mutual understanding and communication between the couple."

Ohenewa Owuu, the program manger of WISE said that forced marriage can result in young girls giving birth before their own bodies are fully developed.

It is essentially a case of children having children.

Christiana Attah is one of those young girls.

Christiana had to stop school in class five because she got pregnant. She said the father of her son baited her with money for school.

"I was not able to demand more from my mother because she was not earning much," said Christiana.

Now she is 17 years old with a three-month-old baby.

Christiana said her boyfriend promised to marry her and take care of their baby.
But she says her boyfriend is in Accra to find work."

I love him and want to get married to him when he comes back," she said.

However, Christiana has not received any money from her boyfriend.

"Even though we communicate on telephone, he has never sent me any money," she said.
Christiana said her mother is forcing her and her boyfriend to marry when he returns.

Although accidental pregnancy is a common reason for early marriage, in some communities girls are encouraged to marry early and give birth because of the prestige attached, said Marian Tackie, acting director of the National Council on Women and Development.

"Women are valued in society when they give birth," she said.

Among the Krobos in the eastern region, girls undergo Dipo rites - a celebration and initiation into womanhood - as young as nine years old, which can lead to early sex and marriage.

"The rites are meant to usher the girls into womanhood, said Inspector Elvis Sodongo, of WAJU. "The girls think they are ready for marriage after the rites."

Owuu, said that underage marriages happen all over Ghana but she believes it is most prevalent in the rural areas where poverty is more severe and where there are less places that children can turn to for help. As a result, she said, many cases go unreported.

WAJU plans to continue visiting schools and Sodongo said, the unit also wants to expand the program to educate religious leaders.

Circumstances of underage marriage are quite common in the Muslim community.

According to Sheik Imaran Abdulkadal, a marriage counselor for the Muslim community in Accra, Islam does not allow girls to enter into marriage under the age of 21.

Abdulkadal said parents who give up their children to marriage at an early age are disobeying the law.

"They are Muslims, but they do it in their own interest," he said.

He said the Fulanis, Gawas and the Zambaluma people in the North allow girls to marry early, as part of their traditions. Some men choose younger women as wives to ensure that they are marrying a virgin.

"Culture allows them to do that, not Islam religion," said Abdulkadal.

He said when he learns of parents who are planning to force their young daughter into marriage, he sends them to Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). However, Abdulkadal added that once a couple is married - regardless of their ages - divorce is not encouraged.

Instead, he offers to counsel the couple, free of charge. He said the education campaign has helped reduce the prevalence of forced marriage in the North.

Parents and husbands who arrange the underage marriage can be fined and possibly face jail time up to six months.

Inspector Sodongo said that although some progress has been made, many cases of underage marriages go unreported either because families are not aware of the legal age for marriage or because there are no WAJU units set up in the more remote areas of the country.
According to the 1998 Demographic and Health Survey, 6.5% of women in Ghana between the ages of 15 to 19 were married.

Perhaps if Diana Edmund had known about a place such as WAJU three years ago, her life would be different today. Instead, her dreams of finishing school and becoming a nurse have faded into a marriage she did not choose and two young children that she is raising virtually on her own.

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From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200402250435.html