Because of a lack of adequate sex education, 16-year-old Chazoso Soko didn’t realise that she could get pregnant. “My boyfriend told me that we were just practicing. I didn’t know very much about sex then,” she says.

When she fell pregnant, Chazaso was forced to drop out of school and marry her 17-year-old boyfriend. She is now 23, and last month, her divorce was finalised in court, leaving her alone to raise her six-year-old son.

“In my village, a lot of girls leave school at the same age that I did,” she says. “Some parents want them to get married because the family is poor and they will get the Kacheka (money paid to the bride’s mother) when their daughter finds a husband. Others, like me, have to get married because they are pregnant.”

Chazoso had not yet completed grade 8 when she left school. Basic (primary) education goes up to grade 7.

An estimated 13,000 girls drop out of school every year because of pregnancy. Though the rate of pregnancy among urban school girls appears to be falling, which may be attributed to more lifeskills education in urban schools, rates in rural areas are on the increase.

In an effort to combat early pregnancy and teenage marriage, as well as the spread of HIV, the Ministry of Health have introduced Youth Friendly Corners in local health clinics around the country where young people can come to learn about sexual health and contraception.

The YFC also travel to rural villages on a regular basis to carry out dramatic and musical performances to highlight the dangers of unprotected sex. They also stress the importance of staying in school, especially for young girls.
An estimated 13,000 girls drop out of school every year because of pregnancy

Her marriage was an unhappy one. “My husband was off every night chasing other women. He was not a hard worker, he left me to do all the work in the household. He did not treat me well.”

Divorce is very rare in Zambia, especially in rural areas. Traditionally, women are defined by their relationship with men, as either fathers or husbands. They are viewed as children by society until they are married, when their social status rises.

Women are not judged if they have a husband who behaves badly, but are often very harshly condemned if they get divorced. Their social standing drops dramatically, and they can face marginalisation, exclusion and derision in the community.

“I have to work hard. I walk several kilometres every day and buy sugar cane from the farmers’ gardens to bring back to sell in the village. I have a sister in Lusaka who helps me financially.”

“I am lucky, because I am supported by some of the other women in the village,” she says. “It is very hard being a divorced woman, especially because my ex-husband still lives here, and because I am still young. But I know I will be better off in the future.”