Making the law accessible for everyone: taking forward the ruling on child marriage in Tanzania
The founder of Msichana Initiative, a Voice influencing grantee in Tanzania, brought a case to court on behalf of all children at risk of child marriage in Tanzania. The case is called Rebeca Gyumi versus Attorney General Miscellaneous Civil Case No.5 of 2016 (the ‘Rebeca Gyumi’ case) which challenged the constitutionality of child marriage in Tanzania. As a result, the High Court declared as discriminatory and unconstitutional sections 13 and 17 of the Law of Marriage Act that set different minimum ages for marriage for boys and girls. This was a major victory for all citizens of Tanzania but especially young girls.
Msichana felt that the ruling contained too much jargon and needed to be understood by everyone to ensure its enforcement throughout the country. As part of its Voice project, they developed a case study to help everyone understand what the ruling means, removed all jargon and explained the ruling and the dealings in the High Court in simple accessible language. Today the case study was launched as a major milestone towards eliminating child marriage in the country.
