Tanzania Launches Crackdown On Child Marriage With 30-Year Jail Terms
Tanzanian men who marry schoolgirls or get them pregnant now face 30 years in prison as the government takes tougher measures to tackle child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
The east African nation has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy and birth rates in the world, and 21 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 have given birth, according to a 2015/16 survey conducted by the Tanzania Bureau of Statistics. While sex with underage girls is already a criminal offence, poor parents often marry off their young daughters for cash using a special dispensation under the marriage law which allows girls as young as 14 to marry with parental or court consent.
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