The “terminator” of child marriages. That is the nickname of Theresa Kachindamoto, a tribal chief who puts an end to child marriages in Malawi, to bring girls back to school and give them a future.
If you were a girl living in Malawi, you would have a one-in-two chance of getting married before coming of age. In that case, you would have to leave school because, in all likelihood, you would become pregnant shortly afterwards. In the country with one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, where 50 per cent of women marry before the age of 18, there is one woman fighting for them — and winning. She is Theresa Kachindamoto, a senior tribal chief who fights to annul, and prevent, marriages involving children, in order to bring girls back to school so they can complete their education. To date she has annulled more than a thousand unions and, fittingly, she has been nicknamed the "terminator" of child marriages.
Theresa Kachindamoto is a senior tribal chief of the Dedza district in Malawi, and one of the country's 300 tribal leaders. In Malawi these figures are custodians of tradition, but they have the right and the power to change or abolish certain cultural practices, including child marriages. It is an authority that Kachindamoto exercises over 551 village chiefs.
"When I arrived in these villages I saw many girls of 12, 13 or 14 who already had two children," Kachindamoto recounted. "I was angry, because they are too young to have a child. So I told myself: no, this is too much. I have to do something. If a village chief allows girls to get married, I will remove him." From that moment her mission to curb this phenomenon and restore girls' right to education began.
It is a mission that Kachindamoto began by trying to identify the girls who are victims of this practice, drawing on a network of local women called The mother's group, whose aim is to ensure that girls who have left school because of a marriage or a pregnancy return to their education. "We go from house to house looking for the girls," one of the women in the group recounted.
The causes behind child marriage in the country are very often rooted in tradition and poverty. Indeed, many families force their daughters to marry because they cannot provide for their basic needs, and they believe that once married the girls can bring something more into the household through their husbands.
My parents could not provide for my basic needs, so I decided to find a boyfriend, and I became pregnant. Glory Mwale – married at 16, pregnant at 16
Kachindamoto's mission has also been made possible thanks to UN Women (the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women), which has supported the leader in her campaigns and activities, describing child marriages as "a violation of girls' human rights and a dangerous practice for their health, education and integrity, as well as having an impact on their future development and exposing them to the risk of violence."
The work in Malawi's villages is making progress, but the challenge that remains is to build a new collective approach to these issues, from parents to leaders to the girls themselves. Kachindamoto therefore tries to work with village chiefs and speak to parents to convince them that education is the most important thing. "Changing attitudes and behaviours takes time, particularly with male leaders and parents who profit from marriages of convenience, forced marriages and underage marriages. While we are talking, there are parents pulling their daughters out of school."
If you educate a girl, you will have everything for the future. Theresa Kachindamoto
In 2017, moreover, the country took a step forward on the issue thanks to an amendment that raised the legal age for marriage to 18. This gives Kachindamoto the authority to enforce the law in cases where violations are committed by girls' parents or by leaders. "An important element is raising community awareness of this law, so that everyone knows that marriages involving under-18s are illegal," she explained.
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Defeating the phenomenon of child marriage also means addressing safety and health. Indeed, once married, many girls are subjected to gender-based violence and domestic violence, and those who become pregnant may face complications during pregnancy or childbirth, causing premature deaths that account for 20–30 per cent of maternal mortality in the country.
The next, indispensable step is supporting these girls in their positive choices, especially once they decide to return to school. They often find themselves alone, without their family's support. Despite the resistance of some community members, more and more girls are resuming their education, and in this spirit the leader and local groups are working to build hostels for girls who are forced to travel long distances from home to school.
I don't think it is right to marry early simply because of a lack of basic necessities. So I decided not to get married until I finish my studies, so that I can find myself a job. Benedeta Matison, married at 15, pregnant at 15
Looking at the present, and to the future, Kachindamoto says she sees the girls of Dedza as free from child marriage, and as women of Malawi who can finally decide their own future. Because if the future of the world depends on women too, and true sustainable progress does not exist without investing in girls, the road to gender equality begins right here, in a small district of Malawi, where girls have been given back their education, their adolescence, and their own freedom.