These heartless African countries stop girls from going to school because of pregnancy

Theodora Aidoo December 13, 2019
“Evelina,” 17, with her 3-year-old daughter “Hope,” in Migori county, western Kenya - Pic Credit: Smita Sharma/Human Rights Watch

Girls who get pregnant in Africa are subjected to several forms of public ridicule, according to Human Rights Watch.

African countries such as Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Burundi and Equatorial Guinea have draconian policies against such girls, claiming publicly shaming them serves as a deterrent to their colleagues. However, the boys responsible for the pregnancy are left off the hook.

Early pregnancies are most common in poor families in Africa due to several factors. Some of the girls fall prey to men who take undue advantage of their financial situation to impregnate them.

Early pregnancies in most cases truncate the education of most of these girls due to societal pressures and stigma. For the above mentioned African countries, the best means possible to stamp out the trend is to cut short the education of these girls or put them to shame.

It is just not the four, there a few more. Check out a list of the African countries denying girls the opportunity to have education only because they are pregnant:

Last Edited by:Kent Mensah Updated: December 13, 2019

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