03 Dec 2008 - One of the International Rescue Committee’s doctors in Kakuma refugee camp, northern
Kenya, has been using the period of ‘
16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence’ to educate refugee communities about the potential health dangers of early marriage.
Dr Symon Wambugu has given a number of public speeches to large groups of mixed refugees including Somali and Sudanese communities. The talks stimulated great debate, with the audience shouting out answers to questions such as ‘how do our bodies change when we get older’ and ‘what’s the appropriate age to get married’. (Answers to the latter ranged from 13 to 17 even though the legal marital age is18 in Kenya.)
Knowing the cultural sensitivities surrounding marriage, the doctor focused purely on the medical aspects of early marriage. He spoke of how a teenager’s body prepares for reproduction and the potentially dangerous problems such as anemia and fistula that can be caused by giving birth before the body is fully developed.
A group of Somali community leaders requested the doctor to come back and give another speech later in the ‘16 Days’ outlining the medical dangers of female genital mutilation.
Dr Wambugu said, “Given the sensitive nature of the topics I’ve been talking about and the often conservative nature of many refugee communities, I was very pleased at the reception I got and especially that they would like more information. Obviously it takes a long time to change attitudes and behavior but it’s good to be taking small steps in the right direction.
“I think the key thing was taking a purely medical, factual approach. I tell people ‘It’s not us saying don’t let your young daughters get married, it’s their bodies saying that’ and they seem to accept this message.”
The doctor shared the floor at one of his speeches with a local policeman and magistrate, who discussed the legal implications of early marriage. The speakers told their audience that the age of marriage was raised to 18 in Kenya by the 2006 Children’s Rights Act, and marrying children before that age carries strict legal punishment.
Early marriage is just one challenge facing young women growing up in Kakuma refugee camp. Domestic violence and female genital mutilation are also a problem and the doctor plans to speak on these subjects in coming public meetings.
The IRC runs three clinics and a 120-bed hospital in Kakuma refugee camp where survivors of gender-based violence can go for medical treatment and referral.
