Parents in East Africa are reportedly trading their girls for cows and goats in order to survive.
Campaigners against child marriage mentioned South Sudan and Kenya as countries where the trend is rife.
Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that parents in these countries prefer to trade their daughters. And they do it due to the impact of conflicts and climate change. South Sudan which was embroiled in civil war which claimed many lives and displaced millions.
An official with charity CARE International in South Sudan, Dorcas Acen told the Reuters Foundation that “The conflicts just worsened the situation.” She says “Majority of the parents wish to give up their girls and marry them off because of the economic hardship. They are looking at how to reduce the number of mouths they need to feed” Dorcas added.
“When there is a girl within the family ready to get married, people will come and present the number of cows,” she said. Dorcas reveals that “Basically it’s just bidding – whoever bids with the highest number of cows will take the girl.”
An official of Amref Health Africa, a health charity says in Kenya, many semi-nomadic Maasai and Samburu herders exchange their daughters for livestock. Millicent Ondigo says the practice surged during a severe drought last year that killed large numbers of a
nimals.
“Since the number of goats has decreased, parents rather sell their daughter for four (or) five goats for marriage,” Ondigo was quoted as saying. Ondigo says efforts are ongoing to convince parents to desist from the practice to protect their daughters.
“(We told parents) when she is done with schooling, she will get a job and she will be able to buy you more than those four goats,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
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