Civil societies lobby change in child marriage laws

The civil groups under the Sexual Reproductive Health and African Trust Botswana (SAT Botswana) on Monday held a consultative meeting on the laws facilitating child marriage in Botswana.

The consultative meeting was aimed at seeking to engage the broader civil society in forging unified approach efforts for law reforms to end child marriages following the recent amendment of the Penal Code to increase the age of consent to 18 years. During the consultative meeting, human rights lawyer, Uyapo Ndadi said the plea was to completely abolish child marriages in the country as it has devastating consequences on the children. Ndadi said the lobby to end child marriages was in line with that it undermines the child’s sexual reproductive health in light that a spouse can easily force a minor child to have sexual relations with them.