Tanzania Govt sued for banning pregnant girls in school

DODOMA-(MaraviPost)-Women’s rights group, Equality Now, has filed a case against the Tanzanian government at the Africa Court on Human and People’s Rights over its ban on pregnant girls from attending school.

The organisation, in a statement, said that going to court was the last resort after years of lobbying the government to overturn the ban.

The BBC u understands that Tanzanian government has not officially responded to the suit.

A law passed in 2002 allows for the expulsion of pregnant schoolgirls.

The law says the girls can be expelled and excluded from school for “offences against morality” and “wedlock”.

Women’s rights groups have been urging the government to change the law.

At least 8,000 Tanzanian girls drop out of school every year due to pregnancy, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

Equality Now said the ban was discriminatory and had trapped many girls in a cycle of poverty.

Lloyd M’bwana

I’m a Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resource (LUANAR)’s Environmental Science graduate (Malawi) and UK’s ICM Journalism and Media studies scholar. Also University of Malawi (UNIMA) Library Science Scholar. I have been The Malawi Country Manager and duty editor for the Maravi Post since 2019. My duty editor’s job is to ensure that the news is covered properly, that it is delivered on time, and that it is created to the standards set out in the editorial guidelines of the Maravi Post.