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Tanzanian girls, from the time they are born, hold a lower status
and value in society, enjoy less freedom and power over their lives, and have fewer opportunities for education and development
than boys. In a context of poverty and limited household resources, girls are the last selected for schooling,
and the first to drop out, especially between primary and secondary school.
The low status ascribed to girls, biases within the school system, large domestic work
demands in the home, and incidents of sexual abuse and harassment by peers and/or teachers, all contribute to girls dropping
out. Early marriage, which is legal for girls as young as 12 with parental permission, (endorsed by the
marriage act of 1971), and in some parts of the country, female genital mutilation (affecting as many as 18% of Tanzanian
girls), also contribute to dropping out.
Many girls who drop out become child domestic workers in faraway households where
they may be virtually enslaved, working up to 17 hours per day for a pittance. Some, as young as 12, and desperate
to improve their lives, find work in restaurants or bars, and soon become victims of sexual exploitation. Others get pregnant at
a young age. Twenty-five percent of women begin childbearing in their teenage years in Tanzania, and one in every
five Tanzanian women is a teenage mother.
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