Tanzania: Court Upholds Ban on Child Marriage

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Tanzania on Wednesday, 23 October, upheld a previous ruling that prohibited parents from marrying off girls from an early age.

A landmark ruling in 2016 raised the minimum age of marriage from 14 to 18 – effectively making child marriage unconstitutional and illegal across the country – and received praise from women and children’s rights advocates and activists as a major victory.

Tanzania’s attorney general filed an appeal, claiming that child marriage could prevent pregnant girls from falling into poverty. However, the SCA dismissed the claim and requested the national government to implement the ruling.

Jean-Paul Murunga of Equality Now said: “We welcome the news, but the marriage act needs to be amended to reflect the court’s judgment that the minimum age of marriage in Tanzania should be 18 for both boys and girls.”

Tanzania has one of the most prevalent rates of child marriage in the world with every two out of five girls married before reaching the age of 18.