Despite the ban on child marriages enacted in 2007, ‘valifofo’ remains a widespread practice as a way of coping with poverty: sold by their parents, sometimes before birth, to adult men, some young girls are forced to give up their studies. Others, like boys married as children, flee their families.
Four million girls in Africa were married before the age of 18. Recent statistics even suggest that one girl in three is a victim of this scourge on the continent. Early marriage is often associated with continuing traditions, but also with poverty and lack of education. Out of a sample of 3,158 women aged between 20 and 24, 40.3% (1,273 women) were married before their 18th birthday. 401 (12.7%) were married before their 15th birthday. These figures are corroborated by the 2018 general population census report (RGPH3).
Early marriage differs according to level of education, and also to place of residence. Living in a rural or urban area also has an impact on the lives of young girls. Most of the women aged between 20 and 24 who married before the age of 18 live in rural areas in this part of the South. This comparison shows that the family’s economic well-being index is a factor that forces parents to marry off their children before the age of 18. It has been shown that the family’s precarious economic situation, reflected in the low economic well-being index, is a factor that forces parents to marry off their children before the age of 18. The poorest women are the most affected by early marriage.
Madagascar has not been spared, even though a law enacted in 2007 prohibits the marriage of children under the age of 18. The Big Island is even ranked as one of the African countries with the highest rate of early marriage, according to UNICEF. And even if in Madagascar, it is always said that no one is above the law, ‘Valifofo’ or forced child marriage is a very common practice in the south of the island, a concrete example where morals surpass the law. In 2018, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) released data on Children in Madagascar (MICS 6). 14 pages were devoted specifically to early marriage. The figures are staggering. The report shows that more than 450,000 girls aged between 12 and 19 are married. More than 21,000 of them are aged between 12 and 14. The same report states that the average age of first marriage for Malagasy girls is 15.9.
A flourishing business
All 22 regions of Madagascar practise early marriage. The names vary depending on the tribe. Valifofo and Tsenan’ampela for the Bara foko in the south, Moletry for the Tsimihety in the north-west of Madagascar. The information provided revealed that poverty is the main cause of early marriage in Madagascar. It has also become a flourishing business for parents with daughters, as their parents trade them in for zebus. Little girls are forced to marry men often called ‘patron-na omby’ or rich men who own livestock to make up for their parents’ poverty. Little girls have no choice but to accept and be at the mercy of men, at the risk of being disowned by their parents.
Other tribes support early marriage in order to preserve blood ties or to perpetuate the oath relationship between so-called ‘mpifati-drà’, people who have no parental ties but who seal their union by exchanging blood through a small incision in the handle. According to UNFPA, child marriage is still very common, particularly in rural areas and in the south. In the Sakaraha district, where we carried out our investigation, for example, baby girls are reserved by men even before they are born.
Sakaraha: a den town
We are in Sakaraha, an urban commune in the south-west of Madagascar. With a population of over 39,000, Sakaraha is home to all 18 of the island’s ethnic groups. Dominated by a female population, Sakaraha is home to a Valifofo community.
Beraketa, one of the 23 fokontany that make up the urban commune of Sakaraha, is rather unusual. This locality is home to several young girls and boys who are victims of this practice. In a way, it has become a refuge for young people in family distress. Girls as young as 15 and 16 have fled their homes deep in the countryside to take refuge here. They are sheltered by distant relatives who are appalled by their plight. Some of them will continue their studies and have no intention of returning home. Others complete their primary education and join their husbands.
Fanja and Esther (not their real names), aged 15 and 16 respectively, are among them. One is in the 5th year of secondary school, while the other is finishing her first year of secondary school and preparing for her BEPC (brevet d’études du premier cycle). Fanja was forced to marry a man in exchange for 80 zebus. ‘I had to accept this union because I need my parents’ blessing, although this forced marriage will only bring me grief’, reveals this young girl. But later she managed to convince her aunt to take her in so that she could continue her studies. As for Esther, she flatly refused to be tied down to a man whom her parents and entourage had chosen for her. “I don’t want to marry a man I don’t know and have never met. I obviously plan to get married later, after my studies, to the man of my heart”, Esther maintains. So, she decided to move from her parents’ home in Miariteheza to Beraketa, where she was taken under the wings of a kind woman who was touched by her plight. But forced child marriage also affects men. According to Unicef’s MICS6 published in 2018, 199 men aged 15 to 49, or 2.6% of the 7,623 surveyed, were married before their fifteenth birthday. Of the 5689 men aged 20 to 49, 12% or 683 entered into a union before their eighteenth year. Still a heavy toll in this day and age.
Disowned boys
The poignant story of two young men, Daniela aged 20 and Tody aged 21, who have also fled their homes, illustrates this sad reality. Tody, 21, is one of 12 siblings, eight men and four women. His father and his best friend decided to extend their affiliation. ”To do this, my parents decided to reserve the baby still in the womb for the wife of his sworn brother or fati-drà. They agreed that she would be my future wife if it was a girl,” says Tody. He was five years old when the baby was born, and it was a girl. When he was 12, he was officially presented with his wife, Anita, aged 7. At 16, during the wedding preparations, Tody asserted his right and refused to get married. ”I made it clear to my father that I wanted to continue my studies because I plan to become a gendarme or a soldier. I also told him that I was in love with another girl. My father categorically disagreed with my choice and disowned me. He didn’t want to return the oxen that my alleged “in-laws” had given him. He quarrelled with them and broke off their relationship. At the same time, he chased me away and I came to live in Besavoa, in the urban commune of Sakaraha”, says Tody, definitively severing his parental ties. With his baccalaureate diploma in hand, Tody stopped his studies. At the time of our meeting, Tody had also given up the idea of becoming a gendarme or a soldier, commonly known as a ‘vazaha’ in Sakaraha. It costs me too much money”, he regrets. According to revelations, it costs millions of Ariary just to register for the gendarmerie entrance exam.
He currently sells ‘toaka gasy’, a locally produced rum made from sugar cane, a product that is still banned in Madagascar. “It’s a profitable business, but unfortunately it’s not yet authorised in our sector. I often face a lot of difficulties. I’ve already been arrested several times by the gendarmes. My goods have been confiscated and I’ve lost my capital and my profits, not to mention paying the fines. I have to start from scratch, but that’s life. I have to survive,” he continues. Tody hopes one day to marry the woman of his heart. He vows never to put his children through what he has been through. His dream is for his offspring to become magistrates, bringing justice to the world.
The story of 20-year-old Daniela’s life is just as sickening. She is the victim of an agreement between her father and her brother to swear an oath or ‘fati-drà’. He was 12 years old, in 4th grade, and she was 8, when they started living together as a couple. ”My father told me to stop my studies and devote myself fully to my little wife. I reluctantly agreed so as not to offend him. We weren’t aware of what grown-ups expected of us. We were told that we were husband and wife, but we didn’t know exactly what we had to do to achieve that”, says Daniela. At the age of 15, he was fed up with living in what he considered to be hell. He decided to play the transparency card and started talking to his father. ”I told him I didn’t want to continue this life any more. I convinced him to talk to the other family, which he did. This decision led to a breakdown in the ties between the two families. My father accepted my choice but still refused to pay for my studies,” continues Daniela. He left his family to live in the village of Besavoa, still in the commune of Sakaraha. Daniela doesn’t even have his school-leaving certificate (BEPC), having dropped out in the 4th grade. He has heard that his ex-wife has been promised again in valifofo to another man. At the time of our interview, our interviewee was looking for a stable and lucrative job. At the moment, he works as a pick-up man or intermediary for regional or national public transport cooperatives.
Andalamengoka
Andalamengoka is a fokontany located 14 km from Sakaraha. This is where E. and her parents live. E. is 12 years old. At her age, this little girl should still enjoy her rights as a child. But her parents have decided otherwise. E. is married according to Antandroy custom, and her husband, Mandela, 36, is already the father of three children aged 4, 7 and 9. Mandela has already married twice. E. is his third wife. This marriage is an arrangement between E.’s father and his son-in-law. As dowry, E.’s father received an ox and a promise to send the little girl to school. If Mandela ever wanted to leave the family cocoon, he would be free to do so.
At the time of the survey, E. was in 8th grade at the Andalamengoka public primary school (EPP). Her teacher remembers her very well, even though her husband and father said she was in 6th grade. E. is a studious girl, but unfortunately, she is preoccupied with her family needs. Her teacher is unaware of her early involvement. He fears that she will not be able to finish her studies like most girls in her situation.
The headmaster of the primary school where E. studies deplores the fact that young girls are dropping out. All the schools in the Sakaraha district are affected by the drop-out phenomenon. It has even been on the rise for some years. This rise in the drop-out rate for girls in the Sakaraha school district is due to several factors: the lack of a complete cycle; 72% finish in 9th grade. Seven fokontany out of twenty-three have an EPP with a full cycle, i.e. up to 7th grade. Pupils are also demotivated by the dilapidated state of the school infrastructure. The lack of qualified teaching staff and, above all, the poverty of parents are other causes of school drop-out. Most parents choose to marry their young daughters off early to men in the village who have a stable situation. Child marriage is fuelling the resurgence of early pregnancy in Sakaraha. The minimum age of girls involved is 12. The majority of these young women are not married under civil law.
The mayor of the urban district of Sakaraha says that the number of couples choosing to formalise their union at the town hall has fallen sharply over the last two years. According to statistics from the town hall, 33 couples decided to seal their union civilly in 2020. For 2021, only nine couples officiated at their wedding during the first half of the year. The Town Hall’s projection is 200 weddings a year. No child marriages were recorded. The mayor cites several reasons for this drop in the number of civil weddings. According to him, couples are choosing not to make a commitment so that they can say goodbye freely.
Bezaha
We are still in the South-West region, in Bezaha, a rural commune in the Betioky Sud district. Bezaha is an agricultural town with thirty-four fokontany, and has all the necessary infrastructure: a hospital, a gendarmerie post, schools, a water and electricity agency and schools. Here, it is not unusual for two young people of the same ethnic group to be married before the age of 18. Starting a family at the age of 12 is a tradition handed down from generation to generation.
This region, inhabited by the Antanosy, has not been spared by Valifofo, and the region’s development has not been able to wipe out the tradition. However, this development in no way prevents the rigid preservation of customs and traditions. It’s not unusual to see children getting married at the age of 12, 13 or 14 in Bezaha. The aim? To ensure that lineage and wealth remain within the family fold. This is also the reason why the practice of marrying off children from close families originated in the Antanosy tribe. ‘It’s a custom inherited from our ancestors’, explains one father. But even if this union is the result of consent between the two families, it affects the lives of the young girls.
In Bezaha, the practice of Valifofo is keeping a low profile in the face of the establishment of the Child Protection Network (RPE), funded by Unicef Madagascar since 2016. The members of the RPE, including the mayor, the gendarmerie and teachers, are mobilised to condemn the practitioners of this early marriage. Even though “traditional child marriage is commonplace in society. A girl of a young age is already in a relationship with a man of her generation or a man older than her”, says Carlas Razafimandimby, deputy mayor of Bezaha. On condition of anonymity, a young girl assisted by her mother described the first day she entered her marital home. At the age of 12, her mother gave her hand to a young boy. She knew almost nothing about the life of a couple. But she had no choice but to join her husband in his home. Her consent to this early marriage was not taken into consideration by her mother, as it was a forced marriage. She was forced to leave her original home. ‘Since her union with her husband, she has returned to our home four times, arguing that she was not getting used to life as a couple’, says her mother. The young girl became pregnant when she was 14, but lost the baby in childbirth. Now aged 16, she has never succeeded in having a child after this first failure.
Negotiations about the future husband’s union are initiated by the parents. The parents agree to the children starting a family once the daughter is of child-bearing age. The union is preceded by a ‘fomba’ or traditional rite according to Antanosy custom. The family kills a zebu to confirm the relationship. They give their blessing to the future husband through the zebu’s blood and vow to have many children and a better life.
This rite breaks the bond of kinship that exists between children of the same lineage. The children are considered to be lovers and are subsequently allowed to marry. However, the relationship can only be severed with the agreement of both parents if the union is contested. An Antanosy father who requested anonymity admitted that “the union is not the fruit of true love agreed by the couple. It is simply the result of an agreement between the husband’s and wife’s parents.
Two people from different families get married. It often happens that their marriage does not last. In this case, the zebu given as a dowry will not be returned. This relationship does not affect relations between the respective parents. The couple is then free to establish a new union of their choice. Most Antanosy men have married according to the practice of Valifofo or Valy Mitroky according to the local dialect. From custom to custom, the children follow in the footsteps of their elders. “We gave birth to five boys and one girl. My eldest son also got married through this tradition. And if someone asks to marry my children through Valy mitroky, I’ll gladly accept,” confirms this father.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNtrxILEJtw
In Bezaha, people are proud of this tradition and make sure it continues. Tsianiria, a 75-year-old mother, described how her parents married her off to a 15-year-old boy when she was just 11. I lived with my parents-in-law after my marriage. My husband and I hadn’t even had sex until two years after I moved in with him, when I was 13. I had my first pregnancy and gave birth to my first child when I was 14. We had fifteen children, nine boys and six girls. But, unfortunately, five of them died”, she says.
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/DuTaP1nbv2k
Tsianiria did not explain the cause of death of her five children. Culturally, death is considered a natural phenomenon. Through the rite performed before the union of a couple from the same ancestry, the family believes that the blood of the zebu shed on the spouses erases the family relationship. On a scientific level, however, general practitioner Joseph Randrianasolo argues that “a child conceived as a result of the marriage of parents of the same bloodline could end up with a complication as soon as the mother becomes pregnant. This is why incestuous relationships are not recommended. Abortion and stillbirth are the inevitable medical consequences”. Although Bezaha has a modern health infrastructure, its attendance rate is still very low, especially for deliveries. One of the main reasons for this is social mores. ”The youngest girl known to have given birth to her first child was 12 years old. Her family brought her here in 2019. She managed to give birth to her child without any surgery,” explains Fanja Misandy Solondrafara, the midwife at Bezaha hospital.
In the Antanosy region, girls are sacred. They ensure the family lineage. That’s why arranging children’s relationships is a parental matter. “The majority of people in Bezaha practise Valifofo. Some girls are even married by the age of 10. Most of them have not yet menstruated. Then they give birth at the age of 12. Then, as soon as she is born, the baby girl is already reserved and promised to a son from another family. And so it goes on. That’s how this tradition is perpetuated”, says midwife Fanja Misandy Solondrafara.
VIDEO 3: https://youtu.be/F900ok8xr4Y
The law is silent
The EPR has not curbed this practice. Fortunately, the practitioners of these customs have become very discreet. As a result, births resulting from these early and customary marriages are not registered until 5 to 10 years after the union, with consequences for the town hall’s civil status statistics. Pregnant women only give birth in hospital in the event of complications. Families generally turn to matrons. The law, enacted in 2007, prohibits the marriage of minors under the age of 18, except in exceptional cases or by court order. Article 10 of Law 2014-040 on forced marriage states that ‘forcing someone to enter into a marriage, by using violence, deprivation of liberty, pressure or other unlawful behaviour or by threatening to engage in such behaviour, constitutes an offence punishable by a prison sentence of 6 months to 2 years and a fine of 500,000 to 2,000,000 Ar or one of these two penalties’.
VIDEO 4 : https://youtu.be/4paQVWWfZ40
At the time of this investigation, the Toliara Court of First Instance had no data, statistics or information on complaints or cases of early marriage. This customary marriage is still rife, and apparently the authorities are turning a blind eye to this transgression. When questioned, Olga Rajaonarivo, Head of Division at the Police des Moeurs et de la Protection des Mineurs (PMPM) in Toliara, France, said that she had never dealt with any cases of forced marriage within her department. She had never received any complaints. The prosecutor of the Toliara Court of First Instance, Sylvestre José Mathias Ramaromihisa, confirmed this statement. Early marriages are not one of his court’s priorities. They have been ordered to deal with cases of abduction of minors and rape of minors, which are rife in Toliara. The percentage of married children has risen by around 10% in five years. It was 39% in 2004 and 48% in 2009″, according to the UNFPA. A UN report shows that ‘767,000 girls born between 2005 and 2010 will be married or in union before their 18th birthday by 2030’, if this practice continues. To remedy the situation, awareness campaigns need to be stepped up. The laws against this practice must be applied to the letter.
Investigation by Nadia Raonimanalina, Elise Nandrasanela and Perle Ratsimbazafy, in collaboration with www.malagasynews.com and Radio Tsiry. An initiative supported by Medialab Pour Elles, a CFI- Agence française de développement médias project under the aegis of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
