Legal Framework on Child Marriage
According to Section 2 of the Children’s (Amended) Act of Uganda, child marriage is referred to as any union whether formal or informal involving any person below the age of 18years for the purpose of living as husband and wife.
Marriage before the age of 18years is a fundamental violation of human rights, many factors of early marriage interacts to place a child at risk for example pregnancy, exposure to sexual transmitted infections and many more.
The Constitution of Uganda states that the legal age of marriage is 18years for a girl child and 21years for a boy child and whoever contracts child marriage shall be held liable and punished by the law by paying fines or imprisonment
A child shall not be involved in any sexual activities in nature whether paid for or not and any person who contravenes with this section shall commit an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred currency points or to serve a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years as provided for under Section 8A (I) of the Children’s (Amended) Act of Uganda.
Section 42A(I) of the Children’s (Amended) Act of Uganda Provides for protection of children from any type of violence which includes Child marriage, child trafficking, female genital mutilation, child labor, defilement and other forms of physical or emotional abuse, a child must not face any of the above mentioned violations.
The penal code Act of Uganda defines defilement as unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of eighteen years and this offence is punishable by the law, any person involved in this act shall upon conviction be sentenced to imprisonment for life
Defilement is considered aggravated if the girl child is below 15years old, the offender has HIV/AIDS, the offender is the victim’s parent or guardian , the girl has a disability, or the offender is a serial offender, and it carries a maximum penalty of death,
The ingredients of defilement include;
. Unlawful sexual act committed
. Victim is below 15years of age at the time of the offence
. The accused person is the perpetrator of the unlawful sexual Act
The government of Uganda has put up a number of policies that should in theory be useful to reduce child marriages in Uganda
What can be done to reduce child marriage and defilement?
- The settling of the minimum age of marriage and sexual consent which is 18 years, the defilement law should be implemented and the offenders should be punished beyond reasonable doubts
- External support through NGOs to help parents and children by providing income generating support so they can manage and support their children’s financial needs.
- Supporting girl children by encouraging them to stay in school and sensitize them about the dangers and consequences of school dropout, early pregnancies and early marriages.
- Improvement of policy and legal environment to protect children and their rights.
