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<p> Child marriage remains a persistent human rights concern in Malawi, where nearly half of girls marry before age 18 despite ongoing legal reforms. This article analyzes the rights-based frameworks that shape national and international responses, focusing on the tensions between child-centered approaches rooted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and women-centered approaches grounded in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Drawing on qualitative data, the study demonstrates how these frameworks, while valuable, often create fragmented strategies that overlook the cultural beliefs and practices such as poverty-driven exchanges, initiation rites, and families falsifying girls’ ages that sustain child marriage. To address these gaps, the article introduces an African feminist lens, which emphasizes cultural embeddedness, collective rights, and community well-being as central to protecting children and advancing gender justice. This perspective highlights the limitations of universal rights-based frameworks that marginalize cultural context and reveal opportunities for culturally grounded, community-driven approaches to ending child marriage. Findings also draw attention to the limited evaluation of Malawi’s earlier National Strategy on Ending Child Marriage (2018–2023) and underscore the importance of assessing the newly launched 2024–2030 strategy, which sets ambitious goals of reducing prevalence from 37.7% to 20% by 2030. The article concludes by arguing that integrating African feminist perspectives into social work policy practice can strengthen collaboration, bridge fragmented frameworks, and promote more effective, culturally responsive strategies to end child marriage in Malawi.</p>

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A “Girl” or a “Child”? Examining the “Rights-Based” Approach to Child Marriage in Malawi Through an African Feminist Lens

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月21日

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  • Linda Chimwemwe G. Banda,
  • Juliana M. Carlson,
  • Anissa Sheena Chitwanga,
  • Pempho Chinkondenji

摘要

Child marriage remains a persistent human rights concern in Malawi, where nearly half of girls marry before age 18 despite ongoing legal reforms. This article analyzes the rights-based frameworks that shape national and international responses, focusing on the tensions between child-centered approaches rooted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and women-centered approaches grounded in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Drawing on qualitative data, the study demonstrates how these frameworks, while valuable, often create fragmented strategies that overlook the cultural beliefs and practices such as poverty-driven exchanges, initiation rites, and families falsifying girls’ ages that sustain child marriage. To address these gaps, the article introduces an African feminist lens, which emphasizes cultural embeddedness, collective rights, and community well-being as central to protecting children and advancing gender justice. This perspective highlights the limitations of universal rights-based frameworks that marginalize cultural context and reveal opportunities for culturally grounded, community-driven approaches to ending child marriage. Findings also draw attention to the limited evaluation of Malawi’s earlier National Strategy on Ending Child Marriage (2018–2023) and underscore the importance of assessing the newly launched 2024–2030 strategy, which sets ambitious goals of reducing prevalence from 37.7% to 20% by 2030. The article concludes by arguing that integrating African feminist perspectives into social work policy practice can strengthen collaboration, bridge fragmented frameworks, and promote more effective, culturally responsive strategies to end child marriage in Malawi.