Almost 1 in 4 Kenyan girls are married before the age of 18 but who is to blame for this? Kenyans always have excuses of ‘Serikali’, poverty, lack of access to education, culture, and ignorance but in my opinion the blame lies squarely with each and every Kenyan and it’s time to become accountable.
Remember no child exists in a vacuum. Every child is born into a family that forms the basic unit of the society. To every vulnerable child being subjected to child marriage the society (each and every Kenyan) has a role to play in ensuring the rights of the said child are not violated. Child marriage happens in full view of relatives and neighbors but what do we do to stop this harm? We are so fixated on “Serilaki saidia” mentality that we have forgotten the little girl being subjected to this violation we are the “Serikali”.
In my opinion, child marriage is evil. It denies little girls their rights to play and enjoy their childhood in addition to psychological and physical harm. Just imagine the games we played as teenagers and children during the holidays and weekends but instead, the girl is fetching water and carrying pregnancy. It means dropping out of school, domestic violence, and the cycle of poverty continues.
Fellow youth let’s not allow our sisters, cousins, friends, or age-mates to be subjected to this harmful practice. Let’s be vigilant and help our generation fight this outdated practice
