The old men prefer the little sisters on the brink of puberty who are virgins to any widow however young. Child marriage continues unabated in several regions. In Africa among many communities stricken with the AIDS pandemic, it may even be on the increase. It is bad enough to be an adult widow in Africa and on the sub-continent, but to have reached this ignominious status in childhood is profoundly cruel. The knowledge that a girl has no father to protect her may make her more vulnerable to sexual abuse.
Child marriages arranged by the parents fall outside their remit and so continue unregulated.
Poor parents and especially destitute widows, much as they love their daughters, are often forced by their social and economic circumstances to deliver them up to a precarious future. In several African countries widows gave common reasons for withdrawing their daughters from school for marriage. It s not only because we have no cash for school fees and clothes. There is another reason. The young men offer them rides on their bicycles because it is a long walk.