A Juvinile and primary school girl in Soroti, Eastern Uganda, has been married off by her family after it was discovered she was pregnant. This happened some months ago until a source tipped us about this unbecoming issue.
This primary school student in Soroti, is now married after falling pregnant. Her names are withheld since investigations are ongoing, but she attended Awoja Bridge Primary School and was living with her supposed husband after her parents and his agreed she should stay with him.
The school, understandably, is very concerned. The deputy headteacher, Patrick Opolot, said they tried to get the girl back into education but her parents weren’t interested. Sadly, this isn’t an isolated case as Opolot said the school had already lost two other young girls to child marriage this year alone.
While the girl says she hopes to return to education, it’s unclear if that will ever happen. This whole situation really highlights the very real challenges communities like this face, and it seems like more needs to be done to protect vulnerable young girls.
Early pregnancies and marriages are a thing that is silently eating our society especially in those Eastern and Northern Uganda parts. Statistics released in April this year indicate that one in four (25 percent) girls aged 15-19 years have had a child or are pregnant.
ALSO READ:Â Hope for Birth Injury Survivors as Mulago Hospital Offers Free Surgical Camp
Furthermore, according to the Uganda Demographic Health Survey (UDHS, 2022), teenage pregnancy stagnated at 24%, but increased from 19% to 21% in urban areas. That is how far no girl child is safe.
