28th September 2013
Adolescent girls in Tanzania are routinely, and
often without warning, subjected to invasive mandatory pregnancy testing
which has led to more than 55,000 pregnant students expelled or forced
to drop out of school in the last decade.
Not only the vast numbers of young women are affected by this degrading policy but also the serious human rights implications of forced pregnancy testing and the expulsion of pregnant girls from school, says a new report from the centre for reproductive rights (CRR) titled Forced Out: Mandatory pregnancy testing and the expulsion of pregnant students in Tanzanian school.
Releasing the report in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the director of the global legal programme at the centre for reproductive rights, Lilian Sepulveda said denying pregnant girls their rights to education was gross violation of fundamental human rights.
“Forcing adolescent girls to undergo pregnancy tests in Tanzanian schools is degrading and utterly discriminatory, and violates both national and international human rights law-regardless of whether these young women are pregnant or not,” she said
In the report, the Centre uncovered that these practices were being used by school officials to shame and scare adolescents in an effort to prevent premarital sex and pregnancy.
However, the report said schools failed to provide reproductive health education or services that could arm students with the information they need to prevent pregnancy.
“Not surprisingly, contraceptive use among adolescent girls in Tanzania remains minimal: only 10.7 per cent of sexually active women aged 15-19 report using any birth control methods,” said part of the report.
One of the victims, Nuru Ali from Temeke told The Guardian that when she conceived, she experienced many problems ranging from stigma and lack of education.
“My own family had different perception, there were few who received me but big number stigmatised me,” she said.
For his part, Advocate and the Third Vice-President of the African Committee of of Experts on the rights and welfare of the child said that adolescents have the same fundamental human rights as adults.
They should be able to access the tools they need to make informed choices about their reproductive health.
If the Tanzanian government really wants to curb the high adolescent pregnant rate, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training must create and enforce policies to protect female students from sexual violence and coercion in schools, said the Centre’s Regional Director for Africa Evelyne Opondo.
“Furthermore, the schools must be required to provide quality sexual and reproductive health education and Tanzanian law must be amended to align with international human rights law by raising the marriage age for women to 18 years old” she said.
Although the Tanzania government recognises early marriage often leads to adolescent pregnancy, the country’s own laws allow girls as young as 15 years to be married with 40 per cent of adolescent girls married by the time they are 18 years, many of whom report being forced into sexual activity, said part of the report.
Among the report’s various recommendations, the Centre calls on the Tanzania government to immediately end the illegal practice of forced pregnancy testing in schools and ensure that adolescent girls can continue with their education during and after pregnancy.
Commenting on the report, Advocate Fulgence Massawe from Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) said that court should give directive or declaration that practice of compulsory testing amounts to interference of privacy and personal dignity leading to discrimination.
“Authorities should put in place the mechanisms on how to deal with the problem especially re-entry programme in schools,” he said.
FAWE Tanzania programme officer Sophia Komba and project officer Anitha Masaka asked the government to allow pregnant girls to go back to school, saying they were being denied of their rights to education.
“We live in different economic levels, different education awareness and different cultures; as such some are trapped in the problem without their knowledge and others, especially marginalised communities are more vulnerable to forced sexual encounters,” they said.
The report revealed that in addition to lack of reproductive health education and services Tanzania government has failed to address the high rates of sexual assault and early marriage - two serious contributing factors to the instance of adolescent pregnancy.
According to a 2009 national survey commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund, nearly three in 10 women aged between 13 and 24 in Mainland Tanzania reported experiencing at least one instance of sexual violence before turning 18 years old.
Adolescents from rural areas and marginalised communities are more vulnerable to forced sexual encounters, placing them at an even greater risk of unplanned pregnancy
Not only the vast numbers of young women are affected by this degrading policy but also the serious human rights implications of forced pregnancy testing and the expulsion of pregnant girls from school, says a new report from the centre for reproductive rights (CRR) titled Forced Out: Mandatory pregnancy testing and the expulsion of pregnant students in Tanzanian school.
Releasing the report in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the director of the global legal programme at the centre for reproductive rights, Lilian Sepulveda said denying pregnant girls their rights to education was gross violation of fundamental human rights.
“Forcing adolescent girls to undergo pregnancy tests in Tanzanian schools is degrading and utterly discriminatory, and violates both national and international human rights law-regardless of whether these young women are pregnant or not,” she said
In the report, the Centre uncovered that these practices were being used by school officials to shame and scare adolescents in an effort to prevent premarital sex and pregnancy.
However, the report said schools failed to provide reproductive health education or services that could arm students with the information they need to prevent pregnancy.
“Not surprisingly, contraceptive use among adolescent girls in Tanzania remains minimal: only 10.7 per cent of sexually active women aged 15-19 report using any birth control methods,” said part of the report.
One of the victims, Nuru Ali from Temeke told The Guardian that when she conceived, she experienced many problems ranging from stigma and lack of education.
“My own family had different perception, there were few who received me but big number stigmatised me,” she said.
For his part, Advocate and the Third Vice-President of the African Committee of of Experts on the rights and welfare of the child said that adolescents have the same fundamental human rights as adults.
They should be able to access the tools they need to make informed choices about their reproductive health.
If the Tanzanian government really wants to curb the high adolescent pregnant rate, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training must create and enforce policies to protect female students from sexual violence and coercion in schools, said the Centre’s Regional Director for Africa Evelyne Opondo.
“Furthermore, the schools must be required to provide quality sexual and reproductive health education and Tanzanian law must be amended to align with international human rights law by raising the marriage age for women to 18 years old” she said.
Although the Tanzania government recognises early marriage often leads to adolescent pregnancy, the country’s own laws allow girls as young as 15 years to be married with 40 per cent of adolescent girls married by the time they are 18 years, many of whom report being forced into sexual activity, said part of the report.
Among the report’s various recommendations, the Centre calls on the Tanzania government to immediately end the illegal practice of forced pregnancy testing in schools and ensure that adolescent girls can continue with their education during and after pregnancy.
Commenting on the report, Advocate Fulgence Massawe from Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) said that court should give directive or declaration that practice of compulsory testing amounts to interference of privacy and personal dignity leading to discrimination.
“Authorities should put in place the mechanisms on how to deal with the problem especially re-entry programme in schools,” he said.
FAWE Tanzania programme officer Sophia Komba and project officer Anitha Masaka asked the government to allow pregnant girls to go back to school, saying they were being denied of their rights to education.
“We live in different economic levels, different education awareness and different cultures; as such some are trapped in the problem without their knowledge and others, especially marginalised communities are more vulnerable to forced sexual encounters,” they said.
The report revealed that in addition to lack of reproductive health education and services Tanzania government has failed to address the high rates of sexual assault and early marriage - two serious contributing factors to the instance of adolescent pregnancy.
According to a 2009 national survey commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund, nearly three in 10 women aged between 13 and 24 in Mainland Tanzania reported experiencing at least one instance of sexual violence before turning 18 years old.
Adolescents from rural areas and marginalised communities are more vulnerable to forced sexual encounters, placing them at an even greater risk of unplanned pregnancy
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
