Ending Female Genital Mutilation & Child Marriage in Tanzania

This Article analyzes the current practices of FGM and child marriage in Tanzania and makes a number of recommendations for eliminating these severe human rights violations. Part I identifies the relevant forms of gender-based violence and discusses how they are practiced and related. Part II addresses applicable international and domestic legal authority, identifying potential gaps in domestic legal protection for young girls. Part III proposes several promising legal and policy strategies, both international and domestic, to reduce the practices of child marriage and FGM in Tanzania.

Ultimately, some or all of these measures must be implemented to help bring an end to these practices and their harmful effects on girls, as well as on their communities. Implementing these measures is not a complex task, because we know how to protect the human rights of girls. What is needed, however, is political will. Policymakers must demonstrate commitment that they are ready and willing to prioritize the needs and human rights of girl children over the desires of the adult men who want sexual access to such girls, and the fathers, and sometimes mothers, who desire the financial reward of handing a daughter over to a man willing to pay.