Violence In Cabo Delgado Worsens The Problem Of Premature Unions

The non-governmental organization (NGO) Oxfam has warned of the high risk of premature unions associated with attacks by Islamic extremist groups in the province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique.

Although child unions are a problem nationwide, it can be argued that girls in Cabo Delgado face even greater risks, including threats of long-term physical and psychological harm," reads an Oxfam report. Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado, a gas-rich province, has been facing an armed rebellion, which has caused thousands of deaths and a humanitarian crisis, with more than a million people displaced due to attacks by these groups. 

According to the NGO, most girls in the province have been forced to drop out of school, which leaves them "more vulnerable" to exploitation, teenage pregnancy and child unions. "Groups of girls report cases of girls being kidnapped by armed groups, sexually abused and forced into marriage (...), several girls have returned with babies," says the study. 

Oxfam also points to polygamy as one of the risk factors for the occurrence of these practices in Cabo Delgado. "Many girls are forced into relationships with men who are already married to one or more women and as a result face disproportionate power dynamics," explains the document.

According to the study, the armed conflict in that province exacerbated the lack of access to and quality of services that protect and support girls against early unions.

“Government legal and protection services for survivors of sexual violence and child unions are currently unavailable in some districts of Cabo Delgado due to ongoing insecurity,” it adds.

For the NGO, these unions clearly demonstrate the impact of inequality between girls and boys, currently driven by natural disasters and armed conflicts, especially in the north of the country.

Data from the Mozambican government indicates that Mozambican authorities helped 1,099 minors who were victims of early marriages to return to their families, or to be placed in “alternative protection”, in 2024. Of this total, only the province of Nampula, in northern Mozambique, had 331 children removed from these marriages, followed by Manica and Zambézia, both in the center, with 176 and 175, respectively, according to a report.

Since October 2019, Mozambique has had the Law on the Prevention and Combat of Premature Unions in force, which eliminates marital unions involving people under the age of 18, punishing adults who marry a child with a prison sentence of up to 12 years and a fine of up to two years.

The penalty is equally extended to adults who participate in the engagement arrangements and to any adult who agrees to live in a union arranged by other people, when they are aware that the partner is under 18 years of age.

Sanctions are also foreseen for public servants, religious leaders and traditional leaders who celebrate marriages involving minors under 18 years of age, in which case the public servant will be sentenced to up to eight years in prison.

In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in Cabo Delgado, an increase of 36% compared to the previous year, according to data recently released by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), an academic institution of the US Government Department of Defense that analyzes conflicts in Africa.