Lock down leaves Amudat grappling with teenage pregnancies

Suzan Chelimo dropped out of school at the age of 14. She was forced into a marriage that lasted two months.  Her woes started after her parents discovered that she was pregnant.

The resident of Karita village, Amudat district was forced to marry the man who was responsible for the pregnancy.

Her parents received ten cows, six goats and sh200,000 as bride price.

Two months later, the marriage was no more and the parents were forced to return the dowry.

Gender experts say Chelimo's story is common in the district where men believe the only way to get a virgin is marrying teenagers.

This has spiked cases of forced marriages targeting young girls.

Mary Alosikin, a local councilor notes that Chelimo needed counselling and support to give birth and continue with school.

"Obviously there was no way the marriage would last. This was a teenager being forced into marriage against her consent," says Alosikin.

At Loroo, Sub County, it is the same story for 16- year-old, Alice Chepsekek who was forced by her parents to marry 30-year-old Alex Marur in exchange for three cows, five goats and a bicycle.

Chepsekek's parents, who had lost their property including cows to the insurgency, desperately needed cows to help them cope.

"Chepsekek was married off young because the insurgency had left her parents poverty stricken," explains Rebecca Chepkateke, the chairperson Women Network Karita.

Chepkateke says one out of 5 cases received by her office is about child couples who were forced into marriage seeking a divorce.Chepkateke discloses that on average, women aged between 13 and 17 in the area have two children. "Most of them were married off at only 13 years of age," Chepkteke says.

Just like Chelimo and Chepsekek many girls in Amudat are forced into marriage at a young age.

However, to understand the high rate of child marriages in the district one needs to take into account the cultural dimensions.

Chepkateke says some of the Pokot men prefer child marriages because they believe it's the only way to get a virgin for a bride.

Dorcus Chelain the vice chairperson of the Amudat district says many parents look at it as a direct ticket to getting wealth because when one marries a virgin; at least 15 to 40 heads of cattle are expected as dowry.

According to Chelain, in tribes like the Pokot, men consider uneducated girls to be better-groomed for marriage compared to educated ones.  

Educated Pokot girls find it hard to find marriage partners in their communities largely because they are considered ‘spoilt and non-marriage material.

COVID-19 factor

Covid-19 presented a new set of challenges for school girls in Amudat with many getting pregnant during their stay at home.

Beyond pregnancy, other cases of child abuse and domestic violence were also present.

ASP Rose Margaret Aduo, the Bukedi Regional Police Child and Family Protection Unit said Amudat registered 72 defilement cases between January and July excluding March and May.

While child abuse cases were 53 in the last six month excluding the March. Domestic violence recorded the highest number of cases at 202 reaching its peak in July at 72, excluding the month of March.  However, she noted that many cases go unreported.

John Robert Adiama, the Resident District Commissioner Amudat district says Amudat has been grappling with the challenge of teenage pregnancies for long but the number shot up during the COVID-19 lockdown.

"This problem has noticeably increased as the result of the lockdown," he says.

He adds; "We have come to learn that many of our children particularly girls are pregnant. 30 percent of the girls who visit our faclilites are below 15-years, what we call teenage pregnancies. But we have sub counties such as Loroo where it goes up to 35 percent," he explains.

 Early sexual activity  

On average, 11.3% of girls under the age of 15 have given birth to at least a first baby.

Sexual activity in the district starts as early as 10 years, according to Chepkateke.

Chepkateke says since schools were closed in March, many girls have been forced into early marriages. 

Chelain observes that domestic violence is also common because men are not able to fully provide for their families.  

Girls are tormented and tired of seeing their mothers being battered. The girls opt to run into early marriage thinking it is a better option.

Dangers of teenage pregnancies

Jackson Chekweko, the executive director of Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) says early pregnancies have adverse effects on teenage mothers, their families, communities and most especially the offspring of the teenage mother.

This is owed to increased risk of low birth weight, mental retardation, poverty, dependency, insufficient health care, inadequate parenting, as well as neglect.

"Parents must know that young girls cannot carry a pregnancy and they usually do not deliver well. They have complications at the time of delivery. Even when they deliver, they are not able to look after these babies."

Chekweko says early and forced marriages are characterised with sexual harassment, violence, HIV/AIDS and early pregnancies that prevent young girls from attending school and completing their education thus, completing the vicious cycle of poverty.

According to Adiama most children in Amudat start school at the age of six or eight, so they become adolescents in primary level and this brings problems.

Adiama says the issue of early marriages can be handled best by involving children in debating on the issue so that they are aware of the dangers.

"Those who get pregnant should be given chance to resume school after they have given birth. Illiterate parents and communities should be sensitised on the value of education", Adiama advises.

Florence Nakiwala, the Youth and Children's Affairs minister, said at least 2,730 teenage girls got pregnant during the first three months in the lockdown.  

"Some girls are lured into early sex by men because they lack basic needs, which sometimes parents can't afford."

 What should be done?

Dr. Kenneth Buyinza, the clinic services manager Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) says because of poverty most teenage mothers are unable to take care of their children.

He says government needs to draft an adolescence health policy to provide young people packages of sexual reproductive health services.

He says they carry out health education and community outreaches regularly but there is need for the government to create new approaches to reach the communities.

Dr Dinah Nakiganda, the assistant commissioner adolescent and school health at the ministry of health says to halt teenage pregnancies, priority ought to be put in education.

"When girls stay in school longer, they will delay pregnancy. So, even if they got pregnant, we need to strive to take them back to school, instead of marrying them off," she explains.

She advises that information be disseminated to the youth about the risks of sex and reproductive health.

Henry Semakula, the Senior Education Officer, Guidance and Counselling/ Assistant Coordinator Health- HIV unit advises that the youth ought to be highly skilled.

"We should note that human capital becomes human resource only when we add value to it," he says.

The executive director of Uganda Children Authority Martin Kiiza also warns parents against child abuse which has been on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sexual violence has the highest number of cases since COVID 19, during this pandemic violence against children has increased.

"67% of children affected were female and 33% boys. We urge all stakeholders to join in the fight against child abuse," Kiiza said.

Way forward

To improve services in the country population, vision 2040 commits to reducing the high fertility rate as a means to create a more sustainable population age structure in the next 30 years.

The government hopes to achieve this by increasing access to reproductive health services, keeping all children of school-going age in school, with more emphasis on girls.

The Uganda Demographic and health survey (UDHS) 2011 shows a direct link between education and initiation of childbearing.

Dr Buyinza says the key feature of Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU)'s intervention to fight teenage pregnancies has been the provision of advisory services to the locals about reproductive health.

Issues of family planning

Family planning experts say lack of awareness largely contributes to this trend.

"Women, especially in the rural areas, are not of the services and where to access them", Imani Emmanuel committee Development Officer in Paya village Tororo district explains.

Imani adds that the attitude of husbands, especially in the rural areas, affects women's access to family planning.

"Usually, rural women may not have the money to be able to afford the services. Without the husband's support, a woman can't access the family planning services", Imani said.

He added that poverty and the distance a mother has to travel to access the facilities also affects their capacity to access family planning services and in the end marriage may collapse.   

 What people say

 Christine Marumbu a teacher at Kalas Girls primary school in Amudat

Teenagers should not be encouraged to use contraceptives because they would be tempted to have sex. When they are denied contraceptives, they will have no choice but to abstain.

I encourage teenagers to abstain until they are old enough to have sex.

Michael Ebelu

Teenagers need to be sensitised about abstinence through adolescent reproductive education, but not given contraceptives.

The latter only encourages them to have sex, which exposes them to sexually transmitted diseases. However, if they must have sex, they can use condoms.