KAP survey on child rights early and forced marriage in Mzimba district, Malawi by Arthur Kamoto

i
KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE (KAP) SURVEY ON CHILD RIGHTS, EARLY AND FORCED
MARRIAGE: CASE OF MABULABO AND MZIKUBOLA IN MZIMBA DISTRICT
March 2015
BY ARTHUR KAMOTO
Contacts: arthurkamoto@yahoo.com / +265- 881090125 Skype: Arthur Kamoto

ii
List of acronyms
ADC : Area Development Committee
AIDS : Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
CM : Community Member
CRECCOM : Creative Centre for Community Mobilisation
DEMIS : District Education Management Information Systems
GSG : Girls Solidarity Groups
GVH : Group Village Head
HIV : Human Immune Deficiency Virus
KAP : Knowledge Attitude and Practice
NYCOM : National Youth Council of Malawi
T/A : Traditional Authority
TV : Television
VDC : Village Development Committee
WUSC: World University Service of Canada

iii
Contents
CHAPTER ONE..............................................................................................................................................................................iii
1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Problem statement.................................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Executive summary................................................................................................................................................................ 3
1.3 Methodology.......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER TWO.............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
2.0 PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................................. 6
2.1 Demographic information...................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.11 KAP Survey Area ................................................................................................................................................................ 6
2.12 Sex................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
2.13 Age................................................................................................................................................................................ 7
2.14 Tribe.............................................................................................................................................................................. 8
2.15 Religion......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
2.21 Knowledge around the meaning of child Rights ............................................................................................................. 9
2.23 Source of information of child Rights ........................................................................................................................... 10
2.24 Knowledge of Malawian Law concerning Child Rights................................................................................................ 10
2.25 Knowledge around the definition of early marriage...................................................................................................... 12
2.26 Availability of other determinants of girl marriage besides age .................................................................................... 12
2.27 Knowledge of the legal marriage age for girls in Malawi ............................................................................................. 14
2.28 Knowledge of the consequences of early marriage ....................................................................................................... 14
2.29 Consequences of early marriage.................................................................................................................................... 15
2.210 Recommendations for preventing early marriage for girls .......................................................................................... 15
2.211 Definition of girls forced marriage.............................................................................................................................. 16
2.112 Knowledge of the consequences of forced marriage ................................................................................................... 17
2.113 Knowledge of Malawian Law concerning forced marriage......................................................................................... 18
2.3 Attitude and practice on child right, early and forced marriage ........................................................................................... 20
2.31 Knowledge of the availability of forced marriage practices.......................................................................................... 20
2.32 The frequency forced marriage practices ...................................................................................................................... 21
2.33 Knowledge of whether people report issues of forced marriage.................................................................................... 22
2.34 Knowledge of whether parents marry off their daughters before legal marriage age .................................................... 23
2.35 Reasons for early marriage............................................................................................................................................ 24
2.36 Frequency of early marriage.......................................................................................................................................... 26
2.37 Decision maker for girl's marriage ................................................................................................................................ 27
2.38 Attitude on child rights, forced and early marriage ....................................................................................................... 27
2.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................... 29
2.5 Recommendations................................................................................................................................................................ 29

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CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
The Mlekeni Mwana Akule- is a community response to eradicate early and forced marriages in
Traditional Authorities Mzukubola and Mabulabo in Mzimba district. The project aims at
reducing the early and forced marriages through establishing the MtsikanandiTsogolo groups
{Girls Solidarity Groups {GSGs}, AmaiMthandizeni Mwana Support Groups [Mother Groups]
and BamboMsamaleniMtsikana [Fathers Support groups] at ADC and VDC levels to make sure
that both women and men are taking part in eradicating the early and forced marriages amongst
girls, teenage mothers and young adolescents. The Mlekeni Mwana Akule project will train and
orient traditional chiefs and community leaders on early and forced marriages in order for them
to encourage their subordinates to refrain from forcing girl children into early marriages.
The Mlekeni Mwana Akule will also carry out awareness raising campaigns on “Send The Girl
Child To School -Marriage Is For Older People” Campaigns. These campaigns will be done in
order to send the message to people who force their children to marry early but also those that
marry younger girls. The project shall also educate people on the existing laws that promote and
protect children rights. Seminars and trainings will be conducted where lessons and solutions on
how to address early and forced marriages will be offered to participants. The project will also
train Anamkungwi to revise their message they offer during initiations so that they don‟t lead girl
children into early and forced marriages.
The Mlekeni Mwana Akule project therefore will equip the communities of Mzukubola and
Mabulabo to respond to forced and early marriages with solutions and strategies that will
promote and protect rights of girl children.
1.1 Problem statement
Mzimba district is one of the districts in the Northern Region of Malawi with traditions and
customs that promote early and forced marriages. Parents look at girl children as source of
wealth through Lobola as they are given cattle as a gift of raising girl children. This forces some
parents to withdraw their children from schools hence the increased rate of girls drop out.
Mzimba has 12 traditional authorities and out of these 5 are the NgoniTumbukas respectively.

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Mzukubola and Mabulabo are the Ngonis and have bigger number of cases of early and forced
marriages and also child labour due to many people migrating to South Africa. Mabulabo and
Mzukubola are situated to the southern and western part of the district and have a population of
131,941. According to 2008 Population and Housing Census Mabulabo and Mzukubola have an
increased number of school dropouts. In 2013 Mzimba south where Mabulabo and Mzukubola
lie they registered 2,378 cases of drop outs. And in the whole district of Mzimba 744 girls were
sexually assaulted every month, according to Creccom report over 60% of girls aged between
13-18 got married in 2013 and most of cases were of early marriages were registered, 101 were
child labor cases, Witch craft cases, 26 physical assault, and 83 child neglect cases1 . Statistics
indicate that most of these cases are registered from Mzukubola and Mabulabo due to poverty
and also cultural influence that lead into early and forced marriages. Some of the reasons were
lack of parental care, child labour, early marriages and migration to South Africa
According to the 2013 DEMIS {district Education Management Information Systems} and
National Youth Council report of 2012 on profiling early marriages the district had 378 abortion
cases. It is also the known fact that girls aged between 15 to19 years old had pre mature
deliveries totaling to 34.9% and this has lead there were over 30 % of maternal deaths of young
people aged between 15-19 years according to the NYCOM report of 2012. Furthermore, it is
also evident that the life of young girls is at risks of contracting HIV/AIDS since only 25.8 % of
girls aged 15-19 accessed family planning services; this pauses a great challenge as the young
girls are not well informed and have no say as regards family planning when they are forced into
marriage with older partners.
Therefore based on the prevailing statistics there is a need to take an immediate action in order to
end girl child sufferings, more particularly early marriage.
1
Mzimba District Social Welfare Report –July-December 2013

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1.2 Executive summary
Chinansi Foundation with funding from WUSC through support from the Canadian Embassy
conducted a survey on Knowledge, Practice and Attitude (KAP) Survey on girl child rights, force
and early marriages which was conducted on 5th
to 7th
March 2015. The survey was implemented
in T/As Mzikubola and Mabulabo in Mzimba District. The main objective of this KAP Survey
was to gather information pertaining to knowledge gaps, common practices and attitude that
perpetrate violence of girl child rights, forced and early marriage so as to set a basis for
developing awareness campaigns on eradicating the malpractice. The survey was also aimed at
probing the extent, magnitude and consequences of girl child forced and early marriages and
community suggestions on how such practices can be eradicated
These two T/As (Mzukubola and Mabulabo) are among the areas in Mzimba district most
affected by forced and girl child marriages. Surprisingly, The KAP survey found out that, the
majority of the respondents (92%) were aware of child rights as they could even mention reliable
source of information such as Radio, Television (TV), School and community meetings. Further
to this, majority of the respondents were aware of what the Malawian laws say about forced and
early marriage. For instance 53% of the respondents were able to quote what the new Marriage
and Divorce Bill says about the legal age of Marriage for girls. However, the results have shown
that cases of early marriage are on rampant in Mabulabo and Mzukubola, for instance 82% of the
respondents agreed that cases of forced and early marriage happens in their communities. In
witness to this, a school in Kaulusi primary has 3 female standard 8 students in a class of 20 male
students and reason behind lower number of girl students being early marriage.
During the survey enquires were also made to responds on cause of early marriage in Mzikubola
and Mabulabo. According to the findings, 69% of the respondents stated that girls marry early
because of poverty, while 17% of the respondents stated that girls marry early because of
traditional believes, more particularly the belief that girls are a source of wealth in a family.
When the respondents were asked on what should be done in order stop issues of early and
forced marriage in Mabulabo and Mzikubola. 59% of the respondents stated that girl child
education should be promoted to end early marriage, 29% of the respondents stated that law
enforcement against girl child abusers should be promoted to end child marriage while 3% of the

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respondents stated that community sensitisation meetings on the effects of early marriage should
be conducted in order to end early marriages.
Therefore this report presents the findings for KAP survey on Child rights, forced and early
marriages.
1.3 Methodology
1.31Target area
 T/As Mzukubola and Mabulabo in Mzimba district
1.3.2 Target population
 T/A Mzikubola: 66,873(Male: 32,415, Female: 34,458)
 T/A Mabulabo: 63,429(Male: 30,877, Female: 32,552)
1.3.3 Sampling method
 Simple random sampling method
i. Community members
 Mzikubola: 32
 Mabulabo 32
ii. Schools children
 Mzikubola: 12
 Mabulabo12
iii. Schools (Mother group)
Mzikubola: 4
Mabulabo 4
1.34 Purposive sampling method
i. Community leaders
 Mzikubola: 2
 Mabulabo 2
Data Validity
Triangulation
In order to ensure the validity of data, three main sources of data were used, these
included;

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 Interviews with students
The KAP survey conducted interviews with 24 students,12 from Mzikubola and 12 from
Mabulabo
 Interviews with community leaders
The KAP survey also interviewed 4 community leaders, 2 from Mabulabo and 2 from
Mzikubola
 One on one interview with community members (men, women, girls and boys)
The survey targeted a sample of 64 people, (32 from Mabulabo and 32 from Mzikubola),
from among which 16 were women and 16 were men.

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CHAPTER TWO
2.0 PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS
2.1 Demographic information
The targeted population in two T/As included 64 community members, 4 school mother group
representatives, 24 primary students and 4 community leaders. The targeted populations were of
different tribes, gender, age group, religion and educational background. The tribe, age and
education background were the main demographic characteristics of the survey, however
respondents religion and sex, were also taken into account considering that they have a bearing
on their understanding, viewsand attitudes towards child rights, early and forcedmarriage
practices. Therefore the demographic information is presented below
2.11 KAP Survey Area
The survey was conducted in Mzimba, a district in Northern part of Malawi where two
Traditional Authorities (T/As), namely Mabulabo and Mzikuwola were targeted. The District
covers an area of 10,430 km.² and has a population of 724,873(2008, Census). However the
targeted T/As of Mabulabo and Mzikubola have the populations of 63,429 (30,877 male and 82,552
female) and 66,873 (male: 32,415 and female: 34, 458 female) respectively. The diagram below
irrustrates the position of Mzimba District on Malawian Map.

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2.12 Sex
The survey captured respondents of different gender status as categorized by their respective
target groups. For instance in T/A Mabulabo, the survey capture 12 male community
members and 20 female community members, 4 female mother group representatives, 6 male
students and 6 female students and finally 2 male community leaders. While in T/A
Mzikubola, the survey capture 17 male and 15 community members, 4 female mother group
representatives, 4 male and 8 female students an finally 2 community leaders. The information
of gender status of the respondents in represented in the diagrams 2 and 3 below;
Diagrams 2 and 3: Showing the gender status of T/A Mabulabo and Mzikubola respondents
2.13 Age
The survey targeted respondents of different age groups within respective T/As for instance,
in T/A Mabulabo, the survey targeted 1 community member (CM) within the age range of 11-
15,11 CMs within 16- 20 and 20 CMs within age range of 21 and above. 4 mother group
members within the age range of 21 and above, 12 students within the age range of 11- 15,
while in T/A Mzikubola, the survey targeted 8 CM within age range of 16- 20, 4 mother
groups within the range of 21 and above, 12 students within the age range of 11- 15 and
finally 2 community leaders within the age range of 21 and above. The information is
depicted in the graphs 4 and 5 below.
Graphs 4 and 5: Showing age ranges for respondents in T/A Mabulabo and Mzukubola
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
12
6
2
20
4 6
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Sex
Male
Female
0
5
10
15
20
17
4
2
15
4
8
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola: Sex
Male
Female

8
2.14Tribe
The survey also covered members of different tribal groups; these included the Tumbuka,
Ngoni, Chewa and Tonga. For instance, In T/A Mabulabo, 26 community members that were
interviewed were the Tumbuka, 4 were Ngonis, 1 Chewa and 1 Tonga, all school mother
group representatives were Tumbuka, 11 students were Tumbukas while 1 was Ngoni and all
2 Community leaders were Ngonis. In T/A Mzukubola, 25 community members that were
interviewed were Tumbukas, 5 were Ngonis, 1 was Chewa and 1 Tonga. 3 mother groups
intervewed were Tumbukas while 1 was Tonga, 11 students interviewed were Tumbukas
while 1 was Ngoni and all 2 community leaders were Ngonis.Graphs 6 and 7 below depicts
the results.
0
10
20
30
12
8
24
4 2
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola: Age 6-10
11- 15
16- 20
21
and
above
0
5
10
15
20
25
25
3
11
5
1 21 1
Numberofpeople
Target group
Tribe: Mzikubola
Tumbuka
Ngoni
Chewa
Tonga
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
26
4
11
4
1 2
11
Numberopeople
Target group
Tribe: Mabulabo
Tumbuka
Ngoni
Chewa
Tonga
0
5
10
15
20
1
1211
20
4
2
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Age
6-10
11- 15
16- 20
21 and
above

9
2.15 Religion
The survey also enquired the religion of the respondents. According to the findings from T/A
Mabulabo and Mzikubola, 98% of all respondents were Christians while only 2% of the
respondents were Muslims. Graph 8 and 9 depicts the results.
2.2 Knowledge on Child rights, Early and forced Marriage
2.21Knowledge around the meaning of child Rights
Respondents were asked to explain what the term „child right‟ meant to them and what they
thought are the examples of rights in which a child should enjoy by the status of being a child.
According to the results, right to education was frequently mentioned by respondents with an
average frequency of 99% while right to participation had the lowest frequency with an average
of 72.6%. Therefore according to the survey findings, majority of people from Mabulabo and
Mzikubola areaware of child rights. Main responses provided by community members, students,
mother group representatives and community leaders are provided below;
Child Rights
Community members Mother Group Students Community leaders
Mabulabo Mzukubola Mabulabo Mzukubola Mabulabo Mzukubola Mabulabo Mzukubola
Child given right to study 96% 96% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Don't know 4% 4% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Child given equal
opportunity in all aspects
70% 61% 50% 60% 75% 80% 60% 100%
0
10
20
30
40
32
4 11 21
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Religion
Christians
Muslims
Traditional
0
5
10
15
20
25
25
3
11
5 1 21
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola: Religion
Christians
Muslims
Traditional

10
Child given right to grow
up
61% 71% 90% 85% 50% 60% 85% 80%
Right to participation 50% 51% 80% 100% 90% 90% 50% 70%
2.23 Source of information of child Rights
During the survey the respondents were asked on where they got information on child rights.
Findings reviewed that, radio, TV and community meetings were common source of
information. For instance 12 community members, 4 mother group representatives and 1 student
heard about child rights from the radio, 1 community member and 1 student heard about child
rights from TV, 9 community members, 3 students and 1 community leader heard about child
rights from community meetings while 2 community members and 7 students heard about child
rights from school. Graphs 10 and 11 below depict the results.
Graphs 10 and 11: Showing the source of information of child rights
2.24 Knowledge of Malawian Law concerning Child Rights
When the respondents were asked on the knowledge of Malawian law concerning child rights
their responses were as follows; 17 community members and 8 students reported that they were
0
2
4
6
8
10
12 12
4
1
9
3 12
7
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Source of information of
child rights
Radio
TV
Community
meetings
School
0
10
20
30 25
3 1
5
1 11
4
11 1
6
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola: Source of information of
child rights
Radio
TV
Community
meetings
School

11
not aware of any law concerningchild rights, while 15 community members, 4 mother group
representatives, 4 students and 2 community leaders stated that they knew something on what the
Malawian law say about child rights.However on the other hand, 17 community members, 2
mother group representatives, 5 students and 1 community leader stated that they were aware of
what the Malawian law say about child rights however, 5 community members, 2 mother group
representatives, 7 students and 1 community leader stated that they were not aware of what the
Malawian law say about child rights.
Therefore this means that half (50% ) of the community members, representatives of mother
groups and community leaders from both Mabulabo and Mzikubola were aware of what the
Malawian Law say about child rights. However, a considerable number of respondents were not
aware of what the Malawian law say about child rights and this put them at risk of being
potential child rights abusers as they are not aware of supreme law of the land. Graphs 12 and 13
depict the results.
Graphs 12 and 13: People who are aware of Malawian law on children
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18 15
4 4
2
17
8
Numberopeople
Target group
Mabulabo: People who are aware of
Malawian law on children
Yes
No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
17
2
5
1
15
2 7
1
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzukubola: People who are aware
of Malawian law on children
Yes
No

12
2.25 Knowledge around the definition of early marriage
The KAP survey also made efforts to know on how people understand the definition of early
marriage. According to the results, community members, representatives of mother groups,
students and community leaders considered early marriage as; marriage before puberty, marriage
before finishing form four and Marriage before the age of 18. However the results showed that
the majority of the respondents considered early marriage as marriage before the age of 18, as it
is represented by 53% while the response percentage of the rest were 19% for those who thought
early marriage was marriage before puberty, 21% for those who thought early was the marriage
before finishing form 4 while 16% did not have any idea of what early marriage is.
Table 1: Showing the respondents knowledge around the definition of early marriage
Definition Community members Mother Group Students Community leaders
Mabulabo Mzikubola Mabulabo Mzikubola Mabulabo Mzikubola Mabulabo Mzikubola
Marriage
before
puberty 6 7 0 3 1 2 0
Marriage
before
finishing
form 4 9 6 0 0 1 1 4 0
Marriage
before 18
years 16 18 4 0 3 5 5 2
Don‟t
know 1 1 0 0 7 4 3 0
2.26 Availability of other determinants of girl marriage besides age
During the survey the respondents were also asked if there are other determinates for a girl to
marry apart from age. According to the results from Mabulabo, 32respondents (64%) respondent
positively to the availability of other determinates of girls marriage while 18 (36%) responded
negatively. Similarly, results from Mabulabo indicated that, 32 respondents (64%) respondent

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positively to the availability of other determinates of girls marriage while 18 (36%) responded
negatively.
Table 2: Showing number of responses for the availability of other determinates of early
marriage besides age
Responses Community members Mother Group Students Community leaders
Yes 21 19 4 4 5 7 2 2
No 11 13 0 0 7 5 0 0
Follow up question was made to what other determinates of marriage are available besides age,
according to the respondents, 15 community members, 1 mother group representative, 7 students
and 2 community leaders stated that poverty was one of the determinates of poverty,5
community members, 2 mother groups representatives, 5 students stated that academic status is
one of the determinates of girls marriage and 12 community members, 1 mother group
representative and 12 students stated that puberty was one of the determinates of early marriage.
While results from Mzikubola indicated that 5 community members, 2 mother group
representatives and 5 students stated that academic status (completion of school) is also one of
the determinants of early marriage while 12 community members, 1 mother group representative
and 12 students stated that puberty is a determinant of early marriage.
Graphs 14 and 15: Showing the results for other determinates of early marriage apart from
age
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
15
1
7
2
5
2
5
0
12
1
12
Numberofpeple
Target group
Mabulabo: Determinates of early
marriage
Poverty
Academic Status
Traditional
believes(Pubert
y)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
15
3
7
1
5 5
0
12
1 1
Nuberofpeople
Target groups
Mzikubola: Determinates of early
marriage
Poverty
Academic Status
Traditional
believes(Pubert
y)

14
2.27 Knowledge of the legal marriage age for girls in Malawi
Respondents from Mabulabo were asked on whether they know anything about legal marriage
age for girls in Malawi. According to the findings, 83 respondents (83%) were able to mention
the correct legal marriage age for Malawi while the remaining 17% were not aware of the legal
marriage age for Malawi.
Table 3: Showing results for the knowledge on the legal marriage age for girls in Malawi
< 15 years 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
15- 17 years 3 3 0 0 1 0 0 0
18 years and
above
21 26 4 4 9 11 4 4
Don‟t know 4 3 0 0 0 1 0 0
2.28 Knowledge of the consequences of early marriage
Respondents were further asked on the consequences of early marriage. According to the from
Mabulabo, 30 community members, 4 mother groups, 8 students and 2 community leaders stated
that they were aware of the consequences of early marriage while 2 community members and 4
students stated that they were not aware of the consequences of early marriage.
Findings from Mzukubola indicated that, 30 community members, 4 mother groups, 8 students
and 2 community leaders stated that they were aware of the consequences of early marriage
while 2 community members and 4 students stated that they were not aware of the consequences
of early marriage.
Graphs 16 and 17: Showing results of respondents’ knowledge on the consequences of early
marriage
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
30
4
8
22 4
0
Numberofpeople
Target groups
conseques of early marriage Chart
Yes
No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
29
4
8
23 4
0
Numberofpeople
Target groups
Mzukubola: People who are aware
of conseques of early marriage
Chart
Yes
No

15
2.29 Consequences of early marriage
Respondents who knew consequences of early marriage were further asked to explain on the
consequences of early marriage. According to the results, 83% of the respondents stated that
poverty is one of the consequence of early marriage, while 67% of the respondents stated that
health complications is one of the consequences of early marriage while 6% of the respondents
stated that early marriage result into unstable marriage and finally 3% of the respondents stated
that early marriages result into school dropout. Table 4 below depicts the results.Table 4:
Showing the results for the consequences of early marriage
Consequences
of early
marriage
Poverty 10 10 2 0 9 4 1 1
Health
complications 21 19 0 4 5 7 1 1
Unstable
Marriage 1 2 1 1 0 0
School
dropout 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
2.210 Recommendations for preventing early marriage for girls
During the KAP survey the respondents were asked on what should be done in order to end early
marriages. According to the results, girl child education was one of most recommended solution
to end early marriage for girls as it was recommended by 59% of the respondents including
community members, mother group representatives, students and community leaders. Other
recommendations that were provided include, enforcement of the law and sensitisation meeting
with community members on the effects of early marriage. The information is depicted in table
below.

16
Table 5: Showing recommendation provided in order to prevent early marriage
Consequences of
early marriage
Girls Education 24 10 2 0 11 11 0 1
Enforcement of
the law 1 19 2 4 1 1 0 1
Sensitisation
meetings 4 3 0 0 0 0 2 0
Don’t know 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2.211 Definition of girls forced marriage
During the survey, respondents were asked on how they understood the term “forced marriage”.
According to the findings from Mabulabo, early marriage was defined by 22 community
members, 4 mother group representatives and 7 students as a marriage without a girl‟s consent
while 8 community members defined forced marriage as any marriage below the age of 18 and 2
community members. Findings from T/A Mzukubola indicated that 20 community members, 7
students and 1 community member defined forced marriage as marriage without girls consent
while 9 community members and 2 students defined forced marriage as marrying a girl below
the age of 18. However 3 community members, 1 mother group representative and 1 community
member did not know how to define forced marriage.
Therefore based on the KAP findings forced marriage has been defined by the majority (60%
Mabulabo and 62% Mzikubola) as marriage without girls consent.Graph 18 and 19 depicts the
results.
Graph 18 and 19: Showing the respondents knowledge around the definition “forced
marriage”

17
2.112 Knowledge of the consequences of forced marriage
During the survey respondents from Mabulabo and Mzikubola were asked if they were aware of
the consequences of forced marriage. Findings from Mabulabo indicated that 86% of the
respondents knew the consequences of forced marriage while 14% of the respondents did not.
On the other hand, On the other hand, findings from Mzikubola indicated that 80% of the
respondents knew the consequences of forced marriage while 20% of the respondents did not
know. Therefore this means that the majority of the respondents were aware of the consequences
of early marriage. Table 5 shows illustrates the responses
Response Community members Mother Group Students Community leaders
Yes 27 30 4 4 9 8 2 2
No 5 2 0 3 4 0 0
Respondents who knew the consequences of force marriage were further asked to mention the
consequences. Therefore according to the results from Mzikubola and Mabulabo, poverty, health
complications, school dropout and unstable marriage were mentioned as major consequences of
early marriage. Graph 20 and 21depicts the results.
0
5
10
15
20
20
1
7
2
9
2
5
0
3
1
12
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Definition of forced
marriage
Marriage without
girl's consent
Marrying a girl
below the age of
18
Don’t know
0
10
20
20
3
7
1
9
5
0
3 1 1
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzukubola: Definition of forced
marriage
Marriage
without girl's
consent
Marrying a girl
below the age
of 18
Don’t know

18
Graphs 20 and 21: Showing the consequences of forced marriage
2.113 Knowledge of Malawian Law concerning forced marriage
The KAP survey further inquired if respondents from Mabulabo and Mzikubola knew what the
Malawian Law says about force Marriage. According to the results from Mabulabo 62% of the
respondents knew what the Malawian law says about forced marriage while 38% of the
respondents did not know. Results from T/A Mzikubola indicated that 50% of the respondents
knew what the Malawian Law say about forced marriage while the remaining 50% did not know.
Graph 22 and 23 depicts the results.
0
5
10
15
Community
members
Mother
Group
Students Community
leaders
11
1 2 2
10
1
3
0
2 1
4
0
9
1
3
0
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: consequences of forced marriage
Poverty
Health complications
School dropout
Unstable marriage
0
5
10
10
0
3 1
9
2 3 1
4
0 2 0
9
0
4
0
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola: consequences of forced marriage
Poverty
Health complications
School dropout
Unstable marriage

19
Graphs 22 and 23: Showing respondent’s knowledge around what Malawian law says about
forced Marriage
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
26
2 1 2
6
2
11
0
Numberofpeople
Target group
Malawian law on forced marriage
Yes
No
0
5
10
15
20
19
4
0
2
13
0
12
0
Numberofpeople Target groups
Malawian law on forced marriage
Yes
No

20
2.3 Attitude and practice on child right, early and forced marriage
2.31 Knowledge of the availability of forced marriage practices
During the survey, respondents from T/A Mabulabo were asked on whether they knew if forced
marriage was being practiced in their communities. According to the findings, 70% of the
respondents from Mabulabo agreed that issues of forced marriage were being practiced in their
community while 30% did not agree. Graphs 24 and 25 depict the results.
Findings from Mzukubola indicated that 94% of the respondents stated that forced marriage was
being practiced in their community while 6% of the respondents refuted. Graphs below depict
the results.
Graphs 24 and 25: Showing people knowledge around forced marriage practice in their
community
0
5
10
15
20
25
22
2 9 2
10
0 3 0
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Knowledge of the
availability of forced marriage
practice
Yes
No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
32
4
9
20 0 3 0
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzukubola: Knowledge of the
availability of forced marriage
practice
Yes
No

21
Case study:
In KaulusiPrimary school, the Heard teacher reported that in standard 8, there are 3 girls and 20
boys. The lower number of girls is as a result of school dropouts caused by early marriage.2
2.32 The frequency forced marriage practices
Respondents who agreed that forced marriage is being practiced in their community were further
asked on the frequency of forced marriage practices in their community. According to the
findings from T/A Mabualabo, 72% of the respondents stated that forced marriage was being
practiced often, 14% of the respondents stated that forced marriage was being practiced very
often while 14% stated that forced marriage was rarely practiced in their community. According
to the results from Mzikubola, 64% of the respondents stated forced marriage is often practiced
in their community and 18% of the respondents reported that forced marriage was being practice
very often in their community while 18% of the respondents stated that early marriage rarely
practiced in their community. Graphs 26 and 27 depict the results.
Graphs 26 and 27: Showing the frequency of forced marriage practices
2
Key informant interviews with School teachers
0
10
20
30
3
0
4
26
0
8
23 4
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Frequency of forced
marriage practice
Rarely
Ofteen
Very Often
0
5
10
15
20
25
4
0
5
0
22
2
6
2
6
2 1 0
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola: Frequency of forced
marriage practice
Rarely
Often
Very often

22
Case study
A girl child on a certain school (Names withheld) reported that her parents tell her to get married
whenever she ask for writing materials by telling her that “your fellow girls are earning a living
through marriage”
2.33Knowledge of whether people report issues of forced marriage
Respondents who stated that issues of forced marriage occur in their communities were further
asked on whether those cases are reported to appropriate authorities. According to the findings
from Mabulabo, 70% of the respondents stated that those caseare reported to appropriate
authorities while 30% of the respondents stated that cases of forced marriage are not reported to
appropriate authorities. Results from Mzikubola indicated that 94% of the respondents stated
that issues of forced marriage are reported to appropriate authorities while 6% of the respondents
stated that issues of forced marriage are not reported to appropriate authorities.
Graphs 28 and 29: Showing results of whether people report issues of forced marriage

23
2.34 Knowledge of whether parents marry off their daughters before legal marriage age
During the KAP survey respondents were enquired on whether parents marry off their daughters
before the legal marriage age. According to the results from Mzikubola, 64% of the respondents
stated that parents in their communities marry off their daughter before the legal age while 36%
of the respondents stated that parents in their communities do not marry off their daughter before
the legal marriage age. On the other hand 72% of the respondents from Mzukubola stated that
parents in their community marry off their communities before the legal age while 28% of the
respondents stated that they do not marry off their daughters before the legal marriage age. Table
6 depicts the results.
Response Community members Mother Group Students Community leaders Total
Mabulabo Mzukubola Mabulabo Mzukubola Mabulabo Mzukubola Mabulabo Mzukubola Mabulabo Mzukubola
Yes 17 21 4 4 9 9 2 2 32 64% 36 72%
No 15 11 0 0 3 3 0 0 18 36% 14 28%
Total 32 32 4 4 12 12 2 2 50 50
0
5
10
15
20
25
22
2
9
2
10
0
3
0
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo:Reporting on the cases
of forced marriage
Yes
No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
32
4
9
2
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola:People who are aware
whether issues of forced marriage
are report
Yes
No

24
2.35Reasons for early marriage
Respondents who stated that parents marry off their daughters before the legal marriage age were
enquired on the reasons behind early marriage. Finding from Mabulabo indicated that 26% of the
respondents stated that early marriage occur because of traditional believes, 72% of the
respondents stated that early marriage occur because of poverty while 10% of the respondents
stated parents marry off girls early because of poverty.
Results from Mzukubola indicated that 66% of girls marry early because poverty, 8% of the
respondents stated that girls marry early because of the traditional believes and 10% of the
respondents stated that girls marry early in order to prevent girls from having illegitimate
pregnancies. Graphs 30 and 31 depict the results.
Graphs 30 and 31: Showing results for reasons for early marriage

25
0
5
10
15
20
25
12
0 1 0
6 5
24
4
6
2
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Reasons for early marriage
Traditional
believes
To prevent girls
from having
illegitimate
pregnancies
Poverty
0
5
10
15
20
25
8
0 1 0
3
1 2
21
3
9
2
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola: Reasons for early marriage
Traditional
believes
To prevent girls
from having
illegitimate
pregnancies
Poverty

26
2.36Frequency of early marriage
During the survey respondents were asked on the frequency of early marriage in their
community, according to the findings from Mabulabo, 54% of the respondents stated that early
marriages happen frequent in their communities, 18% stated that early marriages happen often in
their community while 24% stated that early marriages rarely happen in their communities. On
the other hand results from Mzikubola indicated that 64% of the respondents stated that early
marriages happen often in their communities and 9% of the respondents stated that early
marriage happens very often while 18% of the respondents stated that early marriage rarely
happens in their communities. Graphs 32 and 33 depict the results.
Graphs 32 and 33: Showing the results for frequency of early marriage cases
0
5
10
15
20
25
Community
members
Mother
Group
Students Community
leaders
8
0
4
0
21
0
6
0
3 4 2 2
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Frequency of early marriage cases
Rarely
Often
Very Often
0
5
10
15
20
25
Community
members
Mother
Group
Students Community
leaders
4
0
5
0
22
2
6
2
6
2 1 0
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola: Frequency of early marriage cases
Rarely
Often
Very often

27
2.37 Decision maker for girl's marriage
The KAP, survey also enquired on who makes the decision for girls marriage, according to the
findings, 62 % of respondents stated that fathers were main decision makers for girls marriage
while 38% of the respondents stated mothers were main decision maker for girls marriage. On
the other hand On the other hand, 54% of the respondents stated that fathers are the main
decision maker for early marriage while 46% of the respondent stated that mothers are the main
decision maker for early marriage. Graphs 34 and 35 depict the results.
Graphs 34 and 35: Showing results for decision makers for early marriage
2.38 Attitude on child rights, forced and early marriage
The KAP survey also enquired on the attitudes that respondent have on the issue of child rights,
forced and early marriage. According to the test that was used, respondents were asked on
whether it is better to send a boy to school than a girl, whether girls are source of wealth for
family through dowry, whether to marry off a girl when a family does not have enough
resources, whether girls have rights in terms of choice of marriage and whether girls have rights
in terms of when to marry. The results have reviewed that majority of the respondents had
correct attitude on child rights, forced and forced marriage. For instance 67% respondents from
Mabulabo and 89% of the respondents from Mzikubola has correct attitude on child rights,
0
20
40
Community
members
Students
9 4
23
8
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mabulabo: Decision maker for girl's marriage
Mother
Farther
0
20
Community
members
Students
12 5
20
7
Numberofpeople
Target group
Mzikubola: Decision maker for girl's marriage
Mother
Farther

28
earlyand forced marriage while 33% of the respondents from Mabulabo and 11% of the
respondents from Mzikubola had wrong attitudes toward child rights, early and forced marriage.
Even though the majority of the respondents had correct attitudes on child right, early and forced
marriage, a considerable number of respondents has wrong perception on the same and their
attitude have direct impact girl children as they are likely to force their daughters on early
marriage. Graphs 36 and 37 depict the results.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
It is better to
sent a boy to
school than a
girl
Girls are a
source of
wealth for a
family through
dowry
It is better to
marry off a girl
when a family
does not have
enough
resources
A girl has no
right in terms
of a choice of
marriage
A girl has no
right in terms
of when to
marry
7
21
17 17
19
43
29 33 33 31
Numberofpeople
Attitudes
Mabulabo: Attitudes on child right, early and forced
marriage
Yes
No

29
2.4 Conclusion
The KAP survey has indicated that people in Mzikubola and Mabulabo are fully aware on the
issues of child rights early and forced marriages. However the results have indicated that cases of
early marriage are in rampant in T/A Mzikubola and Mabulabo as evidenced by 92% of the
respondents who stated that cases of early marriages are common in their communities. In
reference from community members, representatives of mother groups, students and Community
leaders, early and forced marriages are as a result of poverty and traditional believes. Therefore it
was suggested by respondents that girl child education, law enforcement and community
meetings should be promoted in order to end early marriage in Mzikubola and Mabulabo
2.5 Recommendations
Based on the findings from the KAP Survey it is recommended that initiatives should be made to
provide school girls with incentives such as basic needs so as to keep them in school since the
survey has indicate that poverty is one of the major causes of early marriages. In additional to
this, awareness campaigns should be conducted as the results have indicated that there is a
considerable number of community members who have wrong perceptions towards girl child
education. Further to this law enforcement against perpetrators of child marriage should be
ensured so as to set an example to potential girl child abusers as the survey results have shown
that majority of community members are aware of what the Malawian laws say about child
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
It is better
to sent a boy
to school
than a girl
Girls are a
source of
wealth for a
family
through
dowry
It is better
to marry off
a girl when a
family does
not have
enough
resources
A girl has no
right in
terms of a
choice of
marriage
A girl has no
right in
terms of
when to
marry
2
14
5 3 3
48
36
45 47 47Numberofrespondents
Attitudes
Mzikubola: Attitudes on child right, early and forced marriage
Yes
No

30
marriage. Finally there should be corroboration between child protections stakeholder so as to
withdraw girl children who are in child marriages.

KAP survey on child rights early and forced marriage in Mzimba district, Malawi by Arthur Kamoto

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