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| Title: | Child Marriages in Rwandan Refugee Camps |
| Author: | Smedt, Johan de |
| Year: | 1998 |
| Periodical: | Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |
| Volume: | 68 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 211-237 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic terms: | Rwanda Tanzania |
| Subjects: | children refugees Rwandans marriage Women's Issues Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Miscellaneous (i.e. Demography, Refugees, Sports) Marital Relations and Nuptiality Cultural Roles Women and Their Children |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/1161279 |
| Abstract: | From May 1994 to May 1995 the author worked for Médecins sans Frontières Holland in the refugee camps of Benaco, Msuhura, Lumasi and Lukole in Ngara, Tanzania, where he carried out medical anthropological research. One of the things that attracted his attention was the marriages of very young adolescents. The age at which girls got married fell from 20-25 in Rwanda to as low as 13 in the camps; for boys it fell from 25-30 to as low as 14. These marriages usually did not last very long; after a few months many girls were sent away by their husbands. By presenting case studies of these child marriages, the author aims to show how the civil war and its consequent poverty destroyed social structures and radically changed social values and behaviour. He also pays attention to what happened to these young people once they were back in Rwanda (1996-1997). The case studies are preceded by information on marriage customs in Rwanda and on the situation in the refugee camps. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in English and French. |
