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Child Marriages in Uganda after Enacting the Death Penalty for Defilement

Received: 26 June 2013     Published: 30 July 2013
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Abstract

In 1990 at the climax of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Uganda, the government repealed sections of the law in order to protect population from infection of HIV/AIDS especially the children. This paper is thus based on the 2002 Uganda Population and Housing Census which was conducted 12 years after the enactment of the law. The results showed that 4.5 percent of children in Uganda were in child marriages with girls being affected more than boys. Child marriages were found across all socio-economic and cultural class within Uganda. Many children in child marriages dropped out of school, lived in child headed households, lived in poor households especially those in urban areas, with Muslims, orphans, Northern and Eastern Region having higher proportion than other categories of children. This study shows the need to educate the public on the existence of the law so that children are protected from becoming wives and husbands.

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20130203.19
Page(s) 138-147
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Child Marriages, Uganda, Death Penalty, Defilement

References
[1] Republic of Uganda (1990) "Statute supplements". The Penal Code (amendment) Statute 1990. Uganda gazette No 40, Volume LXXXIII, Entebbe Uganda.
[2] UN (2006) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations. The Convention on the Rights of the Child. Available from http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc.pdf [20th April 2008]
[3] The Inter-African Committee (IAC) (2003) "Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children". (1993) Newsletter, December 2003
[4] Osakinle, E.O. & Osakinle, C.B. (2012) Child Marriage And Health Consequences In Nigeria [online] from http://www.cluteinstitute.com [Accessed 28th May, 2013]
[5] Nour N. (2006) "Health consequences of child marriage in Africa. Emergence Infect Disease [Online] from http://0-www.cdc.Gov.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/ncidod/EID/vol12no11/06-0510.htm [Accessed April 2008]
[6] Population Reference Bureau, PRB (2006). The world’s youth: 2006 data sheet. Washington 22 [online] from http://www.prb.org/pdf06/WorldsYouth2006DataSheet.pdf#search%22world’s’%20youth%3A%202006%20data%20sheet% [accessed on 20th June 2008]
[7] Mathur S, Greene M, Malhotra A.(2003) Too young to wed: the lives, rights and health of young married girls. Washington: International Center for Research on Women; 2003.
[8] UNICEF 2012 World day of prayer and action for children. ABCs for Action and Advocacy [online] from http://www.unicef.org/policyanalysis/files/Note_on_Child_Marriage.pdf) [Accessed 29th May 2013]
[9] UBOS (2005) The Uganda Population and Housing Census main release, May 2005 Kampala, www.UBOS.org
[10] Lubaale Y.A.M (2010) Orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda; Is it a homogeneous group. PhD Thesis submitted to Makerere University (Unpublished)
[11] UNFPA (2012) Marrying too young, end child marriages [online] from www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/.../MarryingTooYoung.pdf‎ [accessed 3rd June 2013]
[12] World Vision Uganda (2007) Kamuda Area Development Project baseline survey report, (Unpublished) Uganda, Kampala
[13] Uganda Bureau of Statistics, UBOS (2007) The poverty mapping in Uganda, Kampala Uganda
[14] Smart R. (2003) Policies for orphans and vulnerable children: A framework for moving ahead Policy: Futures group international; www.policyproject.com
[15] UNICEF (2005). Early Marriage: A Harmful Traditional Practice. UNICEF: New York
[16] ICRW (2012a) Child Marriage, Facts and Figures [online] from http://www.icrw.org/child-marriage-facts-and-figures [Accessed 29th May, 2013]
[17] ICRW (2012b) Child Marriage and EDUCATION fact Sheet [online] from http://www.icrw.org/files/images/Child-Marriage-Fact-Sheet-Education.pdf [Accessed 29th May, 2013]
[18] Population Reference Bureau, PRB 2011 Policy Brief , who speaks for me. Ending Child marriage. [online] from http://www.prb.org/pdf11/ending-child-marriage.pdf [Accessed on 3rd June 2013]
[19] ICRW (2007), How to End Child Marriage: Action Strategies for Prevention and Protection [online] from http://evipnet.bvsalud.org/lildbi/docsonline/0/3/030-Policy_brief_2007- childmarriagepolicy.pdf [accessed 3rd June 2013]
[20] CARE (2009), Child Marriage: A Promise of Poverty, Atlanta [Online] from www.care.org: [accessed 3rd June 2013]
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Yovani Moses A. Lubaale. (2013). Child Marriages in Uganda after Enacting the Death Penalty for Defilement. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 2(3), 138-147. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20130203.19

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    ACS Style

    Yovani Moses A. Lubaale. Child Marriages in Uganda after Enacting the Death Penalty for Defilement. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2013, 2(3), 138-147. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20130203.19

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    AMA Style

    Yovani Moses A. Lubaale. Child Marriages in Uganda after Enacting the Death Penalty for Defilement. Psychol Behav Sci. 2013;2(3):138-147. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20130203.19

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20130203.19,
      author = {Yovani Moses A. Lubaale},
      title = {Child Marriages in Uganda after Enacting the Death Penalty for Defilement},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {3},
      pages = {138-147},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20130203.19},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20130203.19},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20130203.19},
      abstract = {In 1990 at the climax of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Uganda, the government repealed sections of the law in order to protect population from infection of HIV/AIDS especially the children. This paper is thus based on the 2002 Uganda Population and Housing Census which was conducted 12 years after the enactment of the law. The results showed that 4.5 percent of children in Uganda were in child marriages with girls being affected more than boys. Child marriages were found across all socio-economic and cultural class within Uganda. Many children in child marriages dropped out of school, lived in child headed households, lived in poor households especially those in urban areas, with Muslims, orphans, Northern and Eastern Region having higher proportion than other categories of children. This study shows the need to educate the public on the existence of the law so that children are protected from becoming wives and husbands.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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    AB  - In 1990 at the climax of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Uganda, the government repealed sections of the law in order to protect population from infection of HIV/AIDS especially the children. This paper is thus based on the 2002 Uganda Population and Housing Census which was conducted 12 years after the enactment of the law. The results showed that 4.5 percent of children in Uganda were in child marriages with girls being affected more than boys. Child marriages were found across all socio-economic and cultural class within Uganda. Many children in child marriages dropped out of school, lived in child headed households, lived in poor households especially those in urban areas, with Muslims, orphans, Northern and Eastern Region having higher proportion than other categories of children. This study shows the need to educate the public on the existence of the law so that children are protected from becoming wives and husbands.
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Author Information
  • School of Statistics and Planning, Makerere University, P. O. Box 7062 Kampala

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