THE PURSUIT OF EQUALITY
Once upon a time in a country which spoke the mother tongue of freedom and independence, a certain group of girls below the age of eighteen yrs. could not speak the same mother tongue as the boys of the same age. And this is because some of the girls were forced into early marriages and this meant teenage pregnancies and exposure to various diseases.
But in this very same country, there was a Pursuit of Equality, a pursuit done by those who knew what is right from wrong and pain transpired in their hearts. Few of them knew the worst of this situation because they were victims of childhood marriage and they clearly knew the cost that came with it.
But history has taught us from time to time that human beings will have to turn away from the unequal culture and tendencies and support equality. This was seen in the old days of ending slavery,though in different times but the whole world ended the inhuman acts of slavery and declared every man free. The same thing happened in this beautiful country few weeks ago when the Court of Appeal declared that particular provisions of the law of marriage that allowed a girl to be married before the age of majority to be unconstitutional.
It is very reasonable that the Court of Appeal reached this decision because one will ask himself where is the essence of having laws that allow girls below the age of eighteen years (18yrs) enter into marriage while the nation is fighting tirelessly to ensure free education for all children in the country. Why would this very same child be allowed into marriage while she is incapacitated to enter into contracts? Why do we need laws that try to define who child by distinguishing between a boy and a girl?
While reading the decision of the case I was caught up by one of the statements saying “We consider that, since the Law of Child Act does not define a child by distinguishing between a boy and a girl child and/or give preferential treatment to a girl child, it is high time that, a child should also be recognized under the impugned provisions of the Law of Marriage Act to ensure equal treatment and non-discrimination between boys and girls.”
The decision of this case is not only a winning situation but also a message that there is hope in the pursuit of equality. A message that we will have to refer to every once in a while, if we will see the oppressive cultures that we hold dearly are being oppressive to a certain group of people around us. What was a total way of life many years ago may not be important anymore because we live in a progressive world where every girl child deserves to go to school without worrying about leaving school to get married and endure having pregnancy at an age below majority?
When I was in the middle of celebrating this unprecedented decision by the Court, a friend of mine who is an activist against gender-based violence and child marriage told me that this is just the beginning of everything. When I asked why, she told me that for years the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) has been going on and yet some people still think it is the right way of life since it is their culture. Therefore, if we want to win the battle of inequality, we will have to join hands as a nation and educate each other about the negativity of these doings psychologically, socially and even economically to this great nation.
When I was in Secondary school my Civics teacher a taught me that Culture is the “Total way of life” and not the total way of torture. Let us not allow our own cultures to torture us and the young children among us. But most of let us not allow oppressive cultures be the reason why we cannot pursue equality in this beautiful nation.
Written by
KEN EDWIN HERIEL
Independent Legal Consultant
E-mail: kenedwin9@gmail.com
