The Ghana Statistical Survey on Child Marriage in 2022 also reported that about 79,733 girls in the country aged between 12 – 17 were married or living with a man.
The data also showed that out of the total number, 25,999 girls between 12-14 were in the Junior High School category.
The Regional breakdown of the figures showed that North East Region had the highest percentage of children forced into marriages, recording 13 per cent, with the Savannah Region recording 10.9% whilst the Northern Region recorded 10.6%.
Child Marriage
Child marriage is considered as a union either formal or informal in which one of the parties involved is under 18 years old.
Child marriage is not only seen as a violation of human rights, but also poses severe adverse effects on the victims, their future children, whilst creating an intergenerational cycle of poverty and deprivation.
Surprisingly, some parents in the Northern Region even consider child marriage as an incentive to reduce the financial burden on their household due to poverty in some communities.
For instance, the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), in its 2017 report, identified poverty as one of the major causes of child marriage in the country.
Even so, there are negative health consequences such as poor maternal and reproductive health, increased risks of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and maternal mortality.
Child marriage, in some instances, has resulted in a development where victims take their own lives just to avoid being married at that tender age.
Madam Bushira Alhassan, Acting Northern Regional Director, Department of Gender, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Tamale, said child marriage was a threat to the overall development of women and girls, adding that more concerted efforts were required to address its occurrences.
She lamented over inadequate information on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) coupled with financial challenges could increase the possibility of more girls being forced into child marriages.
She discounted the erroneous impression that marrying girls off early brought financial benefits and said it rather impoverished families, communities and the nation in general.
Madam Alhassan encouraged parents to prioritise investing in the education of their wards to enable them to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of their communities.
Mr Iddrisu Sunday, Northern Regional Director, Department of Children, in an interview with the GNA in Tamale, said some of the harmful cultural practices, such as betrothal of young girls in some instances resulted in ending the children’s education, and created health complications due to the trauma and stress for the victims.
He explained that child marriage was a criminal offence, punishable by law.
Legislations on Child Marriage
Ghana, in 2003, signed up to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of Women in Africa, otherwise known as the Maputo Protocol.
Article 6 (a) of the Protocol states that no marriage should take place without the free and full consent of both parties, especially when one or both parties are under 18 years of age.
The preamble of the Protocol further indicates that any practice that hinders or endangers the normal growth and affects the physical and psychological development of women and girls should be condemned and eliminated.
Apart from the Maputo Protocol, the country has formulated and implemented several laws and policies, which include the National Reproductive Health and Service and Standards, Adolescent Reproductive Health Policy, the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732), Children’s Act 1998 (Act 560) among others seeking to protect girls and women against child marriage.
Despite the commitment of various stakeholders to ending child marriage in the country, more efforts should be directed to girls in the Northern Region especially in the Sagnarigu Municipality.
Experiences of Victims of Child Marriage
Sakina Sayibu (Not her real name) is a victim of child marriage in the Sagnarigu Municipality, and she is now a mother of two, who is expecting her third child soon.
She told the GNA that she accepted the marriage because she wanted to please her parents, adding: “But now I wish I had a second chance to re-evaluate my decision because I was innocent and naive at the time.”
She said apart from losing her childhood dream of becoming a nurse, her health had also been deteriorating after giving birth through cesarean section.
Mahmud Latifa (Not also her real name) is a mother of two and dropped out of school to be married to her husband after a series of confrontations with her parents.
Latifa, who is now into petty trading, told GNA that she never wished her worst enemy to become a victim of child marriage, and said it took away the hopes and aspirations of victims.
The issues of child marriage in the area are not limited to only the above situations, but widespread and require urgent attention to protect girls from such practice in the country.
The Power to Choose (P2C) Project
It is against this backdrop that the Power to Choose (P2C) project, which started in 2021, and will end in 2028, is being implemented by Norsaac, a local implementing partner of Oxfam in Ghana’s project on SRHR.
It is a seven-year Global Affairs Canada-funded project being implemented in seven countries across Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
In Ghana, the project is being implemented in seven Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) and in five administrative regions.
In the Northern Region, Savelugu and Sagnarigu Municipalities are beneficiaries of the project.
The project’s overall objective is to increase access to reproductive health information and services for adolescent girls and young women between 10 – 24 years by 2028.
The P2C Project so far in Sagnarigu Municipality
So far, the project has benefited some 1,026 adolescent girls and young women through capacity building and mentorship to enhance their advocacy skills to demand necessary interventions that best guaranteed their SRHR.
Some of the beneficiary schools and communities in the Sagnarigu Municipality where the P2C project is being implemented include Garizegu, Shigu, Sanga, Northern School of Business Senior High School, Tamale Technical Institute, Tamale Senior High School, Kasalgu Junior High School, Garizegu Junior High School and Nangbagu Yapala Junior High School.
The project has also trained some 24 mentors and 22 patrons in the Savelugu and Sagnarigu Municipalities to ensure adolescent girls and young women in the schools and communities were properly guided to achieve the intended purpose of the project.
Testimonies from Beneficiaries of the Project
Some of the beneficiaries in the Sagnarigu Municipality, who spoke to GNA on the impact of the project, said it had increased their understanding of issues of SRHR and the need to speak up on their rights.
Alhassan Memunatu, a resident of Shigu community, said through the P2C project, she was now aware that accessing family planning and other contraceptives was her right that could be exercised without any form of intimidation and discrimination.
She said the project had also built her capacity to share her knowledge with other women and girls in her community, which had encouraged many more women to be vocal on their reproductive health rights.
Abdulai Munira, a 15-year-old beneficiary of the project at Garizegu Junior High School, said it had helped her and her peers to understand their menstrual cycle and the various misconceptions associated with it.
She commended Norsaac and partners for implementing the P2C project, saying it had prevented many girls from child marriage, sexual abuse, and teenage pregnancy.
Recommendations
The government must facilitate the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill, which seeks to promote women’s participation and representation in the decision-making processes. That way, women could effectively advocate and campaign for the implementation of policies that safeguard girls against child marriages.
It is reported that girls from poor families are two and a half times more likely to marry before their 18th birthday than girls from wealthier families. It means that women must be supported to maximise other economic opportunities to help stabilise their financial status.
While commending government and other local and international NGOs for their roles in tackling child marriages, it is equally important to initiate community based educational projects to facilitate advocacy and awareness creation and to ensure that by-laws are enforced against child marriages and other harmful cultural practices.
Opinion leaders must desist from shielding perpetrators of child marriages as those actions further embolden the culprits to continue to perpetrate such crime.
Child marriage must therefore be made unattractive through effective enforcement of all protective laws to discourage perpetrators from such further abuses.
