Salvation Army calls for end to ukuthwala
As part of 16 Days campaign, the Salvation Army has called for an end to the cultural practice of ukuthwala in SA.
|||Johannesburg - As part of 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children campaign, the Salvation Army has called for an end to the cultural practice of ukuthwala in South Africa.
The Zulu tradition, ukuthwala, refers to the cultural practice of the taking of young girls by suitors with a view to arranging marriages, often with the consent of their parents. The practice occurs mainly in rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, although there have been reports of it in other parts of the country.
Major Carin Holmes, spokesperson for The Salvation Army, on Monday said the prevalence of this practice in rural areas, which suffered from high levels of poverty, was worrying.
“While South Africa does not appear to have the same levels of child marriage that countries such as Nigeria and Mozambique do, it nevertheless not unknown for girl children, some as young as eight-years-old, to be forced into marriage through the cultural custom of ukuthwala,” said Holmes.
The call comes after the issue of child marriages was raised last month’s African Union (AU) summit in Lusaka, Zambia.
Holmes referred to a study conducted in 2011 by Gender Across Borders. It stated that ukuthwala was originally a practice that fulfilled many functions in the family. Once a girl was in the home of a man, she was treated with respect and kindness.
The study, however, noted that culture was not static.
“Due to socio-economic and political pressures, the tradition changed over time,” the study found.
“Ukuthwala now usually involves a girl, reported to be as young as nine or 10 years old, being married to men, sometimes five years her age. They are beaten if they object, and very often raped to prevent parents from initiating efforts to have the girl returned or to report the matter.”
Having one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, Holmes said it was intolerable that ukuthwala was being allowed to continue.
“We need to work harder to highlight the plight of these young child brides and bring pressure to bear to end this practice, which is another form of human trafficking,” she said.
Last year, a 14-year-old girl was sold for R8 000 in the Western Cape.
The magistrate in her ruling said: “It’s intolerable that very serious crimes such as trafficking, rape and assault are committed under the guise of culture, tradition and religion. Both parties to any marriage must consent thereto.”
The AU summit aimed to identify strategies to prevent child marriage in Africa, so that the next generation of young girls aren’t forced into sexual relationships before they have completed their education.
The summit accompanied a new report by UNICEF that estimated that if current trends hold and Africa’s population continued to grow at its expected rate, the number of child brides would more than double in the next 35 years, to 310 million married girls.
African News Agency
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