Meet the woman who ended 850 child marriages

 “If they are educated, they can be and have anything they want.” That’s what Theresa Kachindamoto thinks about her using her power as a senior chief in the Dedza District of Central Malawi. 

Dedza parents known marry off their girls early to ease family financial burden.  Global statistics say that one in five girls in Malawi are victims of sexual abuse. Recall the story we culled from the BBC where a HIV+ man was hired to sleep with girls in Malawi. 

 She serves a community of about a million people and in the past three years, she has annulled more than 850 child marriages, sent hundreds of young women back to school to continue their education, and made strides to abolish cleansing rituals that require girls as young as seven to go to sexual initiation camps. 

With more than half of Malawi’s girls married before the age of 18, according to a 2012 United Nations survey – and a consistently low ranking on the human development index, Kachindamoto’s no-nonsense attitude and effective measures have made her relevant  in the fight for women’s and children’s rights.

Chief Kachindamoto has reportedly threatened to dismiss any chiefs who continue to allow these controversial practices. Many people are not finding her actions funny as Kachindamoto has been said to have faced plenty of opposition to her efforts from parents and community members, even receiving death threats.

She’s still determined to continue changing minds and laws for the benefits of Malawi’s females. 

Amazing!

Aljazeera