Medical experts support marriage at 16

Malawi's Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Professor Peter Mutharika. He has full support from experts and professionals from different fields. Pic by Malawi Digest.

By Agnes Mizere

Medical Association of Malawi (Mam) says Parliament did not err when passing a bill to increase the marriage age from 15 to 16 with parental consent since the sex consent age has not changed and remains at 13 in the Penal Code.

The association has also appealed for the laws of Malawi to be completely reviewed as it does not make sense to have sex consent age lower than the marriage one.

Currently, the law allows girls to marry after 18 years and also allows them to marry with parental consent at between 16 and 18 years despite the age consent for sex remaining at 13.

According to Mam, maternal mortality rates involve childbirth and in Malawi one cannot get pregnant without having sex.

So as long as there are teenage pregnancies from 13 years and above, there would still be high maternal mortality.

However, Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) and other civil society organisations condemned Parliament for permitting girls to marry at 16 with parental guidance but were silent about the sex consent age.

In a statement, FPAM argued that early marriage was harmful since girls who marry at 16 are at risk of complications such as obstructed labour and obstetric fistula often due to prolonged labour.

But from the medical point of view, Mam, which includes gynaecologists, said it was not against marriages but early pregnancies so even if the marriage age was pushed to 21, the age consent for sex was below meaning that minors would still be having sex and unwanted pregnancies, which is one of the biggest contributors to high maternal morbidity and mortality.

Mam said the contraceptive prevalence rate at 33 percent means 67 percent of Malawians, mostly the youth, who are supposed to use contraceptives, are not using it.
In an interview, Mam Chairperson Edgar Kuchingale said the 16 to 18 ages makes logical sense as a law that could easily be applied not just on paper.

Actually, the law was preventing girls from giving themselves into marriage without the parent knowing such that as of now, if you marry a 16-year-old without parental consent, you are breaking the law.

He said Parliament did not err by emphasising 16 to 18 years as time for marriages with consent, meaning it was not free for all since parents have to agree to their daughters being married.

“I believe this law was changed after consultation with experts in the field taking into consideration the part of the world we are living in,” he said.

Kuchingale said those advocating for change could go back to the villages and sensitise people not to allow their daughters to be married at 16 or 18 because that was where the problem was.

More than 85 percent of Malawians live in rural areas.

“The fuss over the 16 years marriage age does not make a proper case and we are missing the boat, the law is very clear, especially in the grey area of 16 to 18-year-olds.We need to approach this matter with a sober mind. Changing the marriage age without changing the age of sexual consent doesn’t make any sense because young people will still be getting pregnant, a thing we do not want.

“What is causing women to die is pregnancy not marriage. Maternal mortality comes from pregnancies not marriages. People are not killed by their husbands, they are killed by sex,” said Kuchingale, who is also a gynaecologist and obstetrician.

Kuchingale argued that if the age of consent of marriage was higher than 16, it would also be difficult to enforce it making it a useless law when charging those having sex with minors.

For example, marrying at 16 should ideally mean that any adult sleeping with a minor under 16, should be charged with defilement or statutory rape.

He said the law needs to harmonise consent ages because other discrepancies include hospital treatment consent at 18, driver’s licence at 18, voting at 18, marriage age at 16 but sex at 13-The Sunday Times, August 30, 2009.