Covid spikes child marriages and teen pregnancies in Uganda

The UN claims that 12 million girls a year are married off before they turn 18. A 2018 report before the pandemic noted that Africa had one of the highest rates of teen pregnancies in the world before the virus arrived. In Uganda, Covid’s impact has spiked this reality on the impoverished. Victory Care Center in Kabale municipality has documented 2,618 young teens pregnant due to unparalleled circumstances. This statistic aligns with recent data from India where 1,200 girls were subjected to child marriages in the northwestern district of Rajasthan alone.

Covid shut down the Ugandan economy, stopping public transportation and the access to most jobs. Resources quickly dried up for families and desperation set in when the small family gardens no longer could be reached or cultivated. Schools, which often provide noonday meals for students, also closed. Tyler and Michelle Reddekopp, involved in work with Uganda since 2008, say “Imagine living in a country like Uganda where there are many laws in place to protect people from Covid-19 but no supports at all from the government.”

As the pandemic hit and options for feeding families dissipated, girls, mostly from single parent families, were sent away to older men in exchange for dowry money so the younger children could be fed. Most efforts resulted in sham marriages at best. Daphne was one of six children still in primary school who was unable to find even one meal a day at home. Her mother often worked in neighbourhood gardens to glean enough for her children. With schools shut down, and no access to the family gardens, Daphne looked to men to support her. This usually involved sexual favors and inevitable pregnancy.

Mariam lived with her mother, but with her mother no longer able to do her job of washing other people’s clothes, she was given to an older man who abandoned her once she became pregnant. She wants to return to school but realizes that this may now be a dream. Vashti’s story is similar, but her mother has fallen into addiction and alcoholism which exposes them to significant compromises. Story after story reveals unprecedented poverty and desperation.

Elizabeth and Abina were born with AIDS, orphaned into the care of grandparents who themselves fell under the pressure of Covid complications. Some of these girls have given birth and now repeat the cycle of desperation to feed their little ones. Primary school girls giving birth to children is not something we usually consider as a side-effect of Covid.

Elin Martinez, of Human Rights Watch, says that in African countries, “adolescent mothers are forced out of school and denied their right to education.” In 2017, Tanzanian president, John Magufuli, stated “as long as I am president, no pregnant students will be allowed to return to school.” Authorities have arrested girls who attempted to go to school in this condition.

The Reddekopps have worked closely with Pastor Edward and Peace Kanyesigye in the establishment of homes for street boys, residences for orphans, microloans for women and now a ministry to nourish, support and educate abandoned teenage moms. On October 2^nd they held their signature 10 Kabale ride and run fundraiser in Vancouver in an effort to support the ministry of Victory Care Services. Before that, they worked with their home church to sell meals for mothers. Just over $7,000 was raised in that turkey dinner event. 

The Observer Newspaper recently noted that “over 5,000 girls, 13 to 17 years of age, had been impregnated during the lockdown in Kabale District alone. Kanyesigye reports that when one girl reported her rape to her parents “her parents advised her to keep quiet, since the assailant had been providing food for the family.” He adds that “some of the pregnant girls have been chased off by their families and others have been married off. Our ministry has started to reach out to young girls who are victims of circumstances… We are planning to help these girls to go back to school in the near future.”

Michelle Reddekopp notes that the ministry to teen moms will include counseling, prenatal care, antenatal care and a chance to get back to school. “The care for each mother will cost $275 per month and the first twenty moms have started.” Anyone interested in getting involved in this opportunity can contact the author at pastorjtaylor@gmail.com  For updates, see www.victorycare.org