Teenage Marriage in Post Conflict Northern Uganda: A Case of Amuru District
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Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Science Journal of Public Health
Abstract
Background: Teenage marriage eventually lead to teenage pregnancy with all it associated adverse consequences.
Moreover, teenagers are less likely to utilize antenatal care and as well exhibit sub-optimal neonatal care compared to adult
women. Thus, the need to report on teenage marriage in order to inform policy makers to provide necessary teenage sexual
reproductive health services with relevant policies especially in post-conflict settings like Northern Uganda. Objectives: To
describe prevalence and determinants of teenage marriage in post-conflict Northern Uganda. Methods: In this cross-sectional
study, data was collected from 424 females of reproductive age using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires. Univariate and
bivariate analyses were carried out using SPSS 16.0. Results: Mean age of study participants was 27 years. Majority of
participants (79.0%) and their husbands (67.2%) were peasant farmers. Majority of participants were married (85.8%) with about
one-fifth (18.1%) of the participants pregnant at the time of interview. Among the married participants, majority of the
participants (65.1%) and their husbands (64.2%) had only primary education. Majority (86.3%) of the married women first got
married as teenagers. Mean age at first marriage was 17 years. Women in this population generally got married at early ages.
Women who got married at younger ages were lowly educated and generally never had formal paid employments. Likewise,
women who got married at younger ages were generally married to lowly educated men with no formal employments. In contrast,
women who married later in life had better education and married men with better education level and above all such couples tend
to engage in formal paid employments. In addition, women who got married at older ages had less number of live births and desired
to give birth to less children than women who got married at younger ages. Conclusions: Women in post-conflict Northern Uganda
are experiencing high level of teenage marriage. This put them at risk of not attaining necessary education and employable skills
hence poverty. This calls for targeted interventions from both government and development partners in order to reverse the current
trend in teenage marriage due to inequality in formal education and other social amenities and thus save the girl child from poverty.
Description
Keywords
Teenage Marriage, Age at First Marriage, Rural Women, Post Conflict Settings
Citation
Simple Ouma, Kenneth Odong Obita, Turyasima Mananura, Acca Harriet Omara, Florence Nabbale, Moses Toe Rama, Caroline Cephas Adong, Mpora Beatrice Odongkara, Emmanuel Igwaro Odongo-Aginya, Silvia Awor. Teenage Marriage in Post Conflict Northern Uganda: A Case of Amuru District. Science Journal of Public Health. Vol. 6, No. 2, 2018, pp. 61-62. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20180602.15