Turkana activists for girls' rights want older men charged and prosecuted if they marry underage girls.
They are especially concerned about elderly men marrying young girls.
The girl child education rights defenders say poverty and culture are the major factors contributing to child marriages and early marriages.
Zainab Lokaale, nominated MCA, said mentorship programmes are not reaching to girls in remote parts of the county.
She spoke on Monday at Lodwar during promotion of data-driven advocacy to influence decision making and policies that improve the learning outcomes for girls and women.
It was organised by FAWE (Forum for African Women Educationists) Kenya.
“There is a need to mentor girls in remote areas. They fall into marriage traps because they don’t have knowledge about their rights and where to report the matter to,” Zainab said.
She called on residents to collaborate with local leaders to deal with culprits in early marriages legally, so Turkana girls can realise their dreams through education.
In Turkana culture, a girl is valued more than a boy, she is taken care of and beaded (given bead necklaces) to attract rich old men, without considering the girl's age.
Eunice Majuma, a trainer at St Patrick Missionary Society, said they are sensitising the community about the dangers of early marriage.
“In these 16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence, we are informing this community to understand these young girls have their rights to education and we want them taken to school," Majuma said.
Children in Turkana are also at high risk of being abused because of the negligence of parents.
Monicah Mararo, project officer at FAWE Kenya, said Turkana West subcounty leads in child marriage and the cases are not reported.
She said their research shows that education for a Turkana girl is optional, not compulsory.
“It is parents who decide whether to send girls to school or not. Because girls’ education is optional, they prefer to have girls stay at home to provide labour, look after goats and do household chores," she said.
The community sees girls as a source of wealth and so there's no value in educating them. Further, they see schools as places where girls are introduced to 'foreign cultures,' such as sex, abortion, drug use and pregnancy.
These problems don't occur if girls stay home and the greatest value is in marrying them off for dowry to help the family.
Mararo said the rate of teenage pregnancy is about 63 per cent, indicating that sex is prevalent among school going girls. It spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In one school, the head teacher revealed that out of 16 girls in a class, seven girls (43 per cent) got pregnant compared to 2019 when only three girls out of 15 (20 per cent) got pregnant.
(Edited by V. Graham)
